1/4 Dollar 'Washington Quarter' Georgia

The 50 State Quarters program, authorized by the 50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act of 1997, released five new reverse designs per year beginning in 1999, ordered by the date each state ratified the Constitution or joined the Union. Georgia, the fourth state to ratify, was accordingly the fourth design released that year. The program proved an unexpected windfall for the Mint — hundreds of millions of Americans began pulling quarters from circulation to complete sets, effectively removing vast quantities of coinage from the money supply and forcing higher mintage figures to compensate.