1999 Delaware State Quarter

The 1999 Delaware quarter was the first coin issued under the United States Mint's 50 State Quarters Program, which ran from 1999 through 2008 and released new reverse designs honoring each state in the order it joined the Union. Delaware, the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, appropriately led off the series.

The reverse depicts Caesar Rodney's celebrated overnight horseback ride from Dover to Philadelphia in 1776 to cast Delaware's deciding vote for independence, paired with the inscription "THE FIRST STATE." As the opening release of what became one of the most widely collected coin programs in U.S. history, the Delaware quarter holds a special place for many collectors who began saving coins because of the series.

Congress authorized the 50 State Quarters Program in 1997, directing the Mint to issue five new quarter reverse designs each year from 1999 through 2008, honoring the states in the order they ratified the Constitution or were admitted to the Union. Delaware, having ratified the Constitution on December 7, 1787, became the first state honored.

Each state's design was developed through a public submission and review process involving the state's governor and, in Delaware's case, its state arts council, before a final design was selected and approved.

The Delaware design commemorates Caesar Rodney, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, whose urgent overnight ride to Philadelphia in July 1776 allowed him to arrive in time to break a tie in Delaware's delegation and cast the state's vote for independence.

The obverse retains a modestly modified version of John Flanagan's original Washington portrait used since 1932, along with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST, and the date 1999.

The reverse shows Caesar Rodney riding a horse, with the inscriptions "CAESAR RODNEY," "THE FIRST STATE," and "DELAWARE 1787" arranged around the design.

Circulation strikes were produced in copper-nickel clad composition at the Philadelphia (P) and Denver (D) mints, with the mintmark located on the obverse to the right of Washington's ponytail. Collector proof versions, including a 90% silver proof option, were struck at the San Francisco Mint (S mintmark) and sold in annual proof and silver proof sets rather than released into circulation.

As the first release of an extraordinarily popular program that prompted millions of Americans to start collecting, the Delaware quarter was struck in very large quantities, and clad circulation-strike examples remain common and inexpensive, even in gem uncirculated condition.

Silver proof versions and top-graded, exceptionally struck clad specimens carry modest premiums among specialists, but overall the coin remains an accessible, low-cost, entry-level collectible well suited to beginning collectors.