Commemorative State Quarter
for Tennessee

Coin Issued: January 2, 2002 - the 1st coin released in 2002

Statehood: June 1, 1796 - the 16th State

Inscriptions: "Tennessee 1796", "Musical Heritage"

Description: To mark Tennessee's musical heritage, the coin contains a guitar to the left, a songbook in the middle, a fiddle to the right and a trumpet above the songbook. Below the instruments is a banner bearing the inscription "Musical Heritage".

There are also three stars above the instruments, which symbolizes West, Central and East Tennessee.

Not only do the stars symbolize the three regions, but the three instruments represent the distinct musical styles of those regions:

- The fiddle represents the Appalachian music of East Tennessee

- The trumpet represents the Blues of West Tennessee

- The guitar represents the Country music of Central Tennessee

At the bottom of the coin is the issue date (2002) and the motto "E Pluribus Unum". The motto is Latin for "Out of Many, One", recognizing that out of the many colonies (or states) emerged a single nation.

Engravers: The Reverse design (the State-side of the Quarter) was created by Donna Weaver (search an actual coin for the engraver's initials: 'dw').

The original Observe design (the front or Washington-side of the Quarter) was created by John Flanagan and first appeared in 1932. For the 50 State Quarters series, Flanagan's design was modified by William Cousins: the portrait of Washington was slightly reduced to accomodate the moving of the legends from the Reverse to the Obverse.

Number of Coins Minted:

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