WASHINGTON – The United States Mint today announced that the limited edition of 50,000 Minnesota Official First Day Coin Covers will be available online at www.usmint.gov, beginning at noon (ET) on April 25, 2005.

Priced at $19.95, the Minnesota Official First Day Coin Cover features two Minnesota commemorative quarter-dollar coins – one each bearing a mint mark from the United States Mint facilities at Philadelphia and Denver.

Struck on March 14, 2005, the first day of mintage, the quarter-dollar coins are mounted on a handsome display card with a cancelled 37-cent United States Flag postage stamp. `The postmark of “April 4, 2005, Lake City, Minnesota” marks the day the Minnesota quarter-dollars were first released to the Federal Reserve Bank and to the public.

On May 11, 1858, Minnesota became the 32nd state admitted into the Union, and as such, it is the 32nd coin to be issued in the United States Mint’s popular 50 State Quarters® Program. The reverse design features a tree-lined lake with two people fishing, a loon on the water, and a textured outline of the State surrounding its nickname, "Land of 10,000 Lakes."

Honoring the states in the order that they ratified the Constitution or were admitted into the Union, five 50 State Quarters designs will be issued each year from 1999 through 2008, at approximately 10-week intervals.

Customers can purchase the Minnesota Official First Day Coin Covers online through the United States Mint’s secure website at www.usmint.gov, or by calling toll-free 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468) 8:00 a.m. to midnight (ET), seven days a week. Hearing- and speech-impaired customers may order by calling 1-888-321-MINT (6468) 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (ET), Monday through Friday.

As an added convenience, customers can participate in a Subscription Program in which specific products, such as Official First Day Coin Covers, are charged and shipped to the customer automatically as each new quarter-dollar is released. A shipping and handling fee of $4.95 per order will be added to all orders. Please allow approximately three to four weeks for delivery.