WASHINGTON – The United States Mint announced today that the limited edition of 50,000 Oregon Official First Day Coin Covers will be available online at www.usmint.gov, beginning at noon (ET) on July 7, 2005.

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

This limited-edition cover – only 50,000 will be produced – features two Oregon quarters from May 4, 2005, the first day of mintage. Each cover includes two quarters on a handsome display card with the 37-cent United States Flag postage stamp. The postmark of June 6, 2005, Crater Lake, Oregon, marks the day the Oregon quarter-dollars were first released to the Federal Reserve Bank and to the public.

On February 14, 1859, Oregon became the 33rd state to be admitted into the Union, and the Oregon quarter is the 33rd coin to be issued in the United States Mint’s popular 50 State Quarters® Program. The reverse design features Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the United States, viewed from the south-southwest rim. The design incorporates Wizard Island, as well as Watchman and Hillman Peaks on the lake’s rim and conifers. The coin bears the inscription "Crater Lake."

The 50 State Quarters Program honors the states in the order that they ratified the Constitution or were admitted into the Union. Five commemorative quarters will be issued each year from 1999 through 2008, at approximately 10-week intervals.

Customers can purchase the Oregon 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 coin cover 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.