1/4 Dollar 'Washington Quarter' Illinois

Illinois entered the 50 State Quarters program in 2003 as the 21st state represented, reflecting its order of ratification in 1818. The series itself was a deliberate strategy by the U.S. Mint to drive hoarding behavior — and it worked, with billions of coins pulled from circulation by collectors and the general public, effectively reducing redemption costs for the Federal Reserve.

Mintages for the Illinois quarter ran into the hundreds of millions across Philadelphia and Denver, making this one of the higher-production issues in the program.