Lincoln, Nebraska –The newest commemorative quarter-dollar coin in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program depicts one of the West’s most famous landmarks, Chimney Rock, the natural wonder that rises from the valley of the North Platte River, measuring 445 feet from base to tip. United States Mint Acting Director David A. Lebryk, Treasury Assistant Secretary Sandra L. Pack, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman and First Lady Sally Ganem launched the Nebraska quarter-dollar today at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln.

“When we hold this new Nebraska quarter, we all share the wonder of our ancestors as they glimpsed Chimney Rock for the first time during the westward expansion,” said Acting Director Lebryk. “This quarter captures America’s pioneering spirit and the joy those trailblazers must have felt as they reveled in the beauty of this new land.”

The Nebraska quarter also features the image of an ox-drawn covered wagon carrying pioneers with the sun shining brightly above them. The coin bears the inscriptions “Nebraska,” “Chimney Rock” and “1867.” Nebraska, nicknamed the “Cornhusker State,” was admitted into the Union on March 1, 1867, becoming our Nation’s 37th state. The Nebraska quarter is the 37th coin in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program and the second commemorative quarter-dollar released in 2006.

The launch ceremony featured Terry Lane as Buffalo Bill Cody, and Matthew “Sitting Bear” Jones, the Scarlet & Cream Singers, the Lincoln Boys Choir and the Lincoln High School Symphonic Band. Following the ceremony, Acting Director Lebryk, Governor Heineman and First Lady Ganem handed out shiny, new Nebraska quarters to the children in the crowd. Adults lined up to exchange their bills for $10 rolls of Nebraska quarters.

The Governor declared April 7th “Nebraska State Quarter Day in the Classroom.” Free United States Mint lesson plans about the Nevada quarter-dollar may be downloaded at www.usmint.gov/kids.

The United States Mint also hosted a Coin Collectors Forum at the Bennett Martin Public Library in Lincoln on the eve of the launch at which the public was asked to share their ideas on coin programs and coin design.

The Nebraska quarter is available in two-roll sets (40 coins per roll) including one roll each from the United States Mint at Philadelphia and Denver, and in bags of 100 and 1,000 coins, at the United States Mint website at www.usmint.gov. The two-roll sets are $32.00, bags of 100 coins are $35.50, and bags of 1,000 coins are $300.00. For a DIGITAL IMAGE of the Nebraska quarter, scroll down the page: http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/CoinLibrary/ .

For a SATELLITE FEED of the Nebraska Quarter Launch (News media only):

Friday, April 7: 3:00-3:30 p.m. (ET), IA5, Tr. 13, DL 3960V;

Re-fed on Monday, April 10: 1:00-1:30 p.m. (ET) IA5, Tr. 13, DL3960V