1/4 Dollar 'Washington Quarter' Wyoming - Silver Proof

Wyoming entered the Union in 1890 as the 44th state, and its place in the 50 State Quarters sequence — released in the order of statehood — put it near the tail end of a program that had, by 2007, already run for nearly a decade. Congress authorized the series in 1997 specifically to drive hoarding and reduce net coin redemption costs; the Treasury estimated savings in the hundreds of millions as collectors pulled quarters from circulation by the billions.

The silver proof designation (KM#399a rather than the base clad 399) was struck exclusively at San Francisco for collector sets. No silver proofs entered circulation.