The United States Mint will not object to use of the obverse
or reverse design of any 50 State Quarters® Program coin approved
by the Secretary of the Treasury, subject to the following conditions:
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Quarter designs and credits may not be used in any way that could
mislead or deceive the public or imply that the United States Mint,
the Department of the Treasury, or the United States Government
sponsors, endorses, approves, or is associated with (a) the product
or service in which the design is used; (b) the creators or
distributors of the product or service; or (c) any other nonfederal
entity, person, activity, product, or service.
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When practicable, high-resolution quarter images for reproduction
should be obtained directly from the United States Mint by download
from the Mint's online Pressroom Image Library (accessible from
http://www.usmint.gov/pressroom
). The United States Mint cannot honor requests for camera-ready
artwork or other reformatting.
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When a quarter reverse design obtained from any United States Mint
source is reproduced for publication, credit should be given as
follows: "United States Mint image." The credit should be placed
next to the quarter design reproduction. The following entry may be
used instead if a credit page is provided: "Quarter-dollar coin
image [or images] from the United States Mint."
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The quarter design's use is not inconsistent with the Congressional
findings and purposes of the
50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act
or with other applicable laws.
Other laws may apply to the use of coin designs. The United States Mint
strongly encourages members of the public interested in using coin designs
to visit the Consumer and Business Awareness section of the United States
Mint Web site (accessible from
http://www.usmint.gov/consumer/) for more information.
PLEASE NOTE: This policy does not cover use of the phrase "50 State Quarters",
which is a registered trademark of the United States Mint, nor does it cover
publicity rights. It does not grant any waiver, release, or written
permission of the Director under 18 U.S.C. § 709 or 31 U.S.C. § 333. By
adopting and publishing this policy, the United States Mint is not waiving
or abandoning any rights in designs assigned or licensed to it, and is not
authorizing any acquisition or claim of exclusive rights (such as trademark
rights) in quarter designs. The United States Mint makes no warranty of any
kind and expressly disclaims any and all implied warranties relating to the
quarter designs. This policy does not confer any personal right or cause of
action, and does not relieve any party from any other duty or obligation.
Questions on this policy should be directed to the United States Mint Office
of Licensing at 202-354-7350.
18 U.S.C. § 709 prohibits a person from knowingly using, without written
permission of the Director of the United States Mint, "the words 'United States
Mint' or 'U.S. Mint' or any colorable imitation of such words, in connection with
any advertisement, circular, book, pamphlet, or other publication, play, motion
picture, broadcast, telecast, or other production, in a manner reasonably
calculated to convey the impression that such advertisement, circular, book,
pamphlet, or other publication, play, motion picture, broadcast, telecast, or
other production, is approved, endorsed, or authorized by or associated in any
manner with, the United States Mint."
2 31 U.S.C. § 333 prohibits a person from using, "in connection with, or as
a part of, any advertisement, solicitation, business activity, or product,
whether alone or with other words, letters, symbols, or emblems [of the Treasury
Department, its bureaus, including the United States Mint, and its officials,
including United States Mint officials] . . . in a manner which could reasonably
be interpreted or construed as conveying the false impression that such advertisement,
solicitation, business activity, or product is in any manner approved, endorsed,
sponsored, or authorized by, or associated with, the Department of the Treasury
or any [Treasury Department bureau or official]."
An Act
To provide for a 10-year circulating commemorative coin program to commemorate
each of the 50 States, and for other purposes. (Dec. 1, 1997 [S. 1228])
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the "50 States Commemorative Coin
Program Act".
The Congress finds that—
(1) it is appropriate and timely—
(A) to honor the unique Federal republic of 50 States
that comprise the United States; and
(B) to promote the diffusion of knowledge among the
youth of the United States about the individual States,
their history and geography, and the rich diversity of the
national heritage;
(2) the circulating coinage of the United States has not
been modernized during the 25-year period preceding the date
of enactment of this Act;
(3) a circulating commemorative 25-cent coin program could
produce earnings of $110,000,000 from the sale of silver proof
coins and sets over the 10-year period of issuance, and would
produce indirect earnings of an estimated $2,600,000,000 to
$5,100,000,000 to the United States Treasury, money that will
replace borrowing to fund the national debt to at least that
extent; and
(4) it is appropriate to launch a commemorative circulating
coin program that encourages young people and their families
to collect memorable tokens of all of the States for the face
value of the coins.