1999 New Jersey State Quarter

The 1999 New Jersey quarter was one of the very first releases in the United States Mint's 50 State Quarters Program, which ran from 1999 through 2008 and reintroduced circulating commemorative design to American pocket change for the first time in decades. Its reverse reproduces the spirit of Emanuel Leutze's famous painting Washington Crossing the Delaware, commemorating the Continental Army's crossing near Trenton on Christmas night 1776.

Because it was part of the debut year of the program, the New Jersey quarter helped spark a nationwide collecting craze, with millions of Americans assembling state-by-state sets directly from circulation. It remains an accessible, inexpensive entry point for beginning collectors.

Congress authorized the 50 State Quarters Program in 1997 to release five new reverse designs per year, one for each state in the order it joined the Union, over a ten-year span. New Jersey, the third state to ratify the Constitution, was honored in 1999 alongside Delaware, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Connecticut.

The design, sculpted by United States Mint engraver Alfred Maletsky based on a submission tied to Washington's Delaware River crossing, was chosen to highlight New Jersey's pivotal role in the American Revolution. The program proved to be one of the most successful numismatic education initiatives in Mint history, drawing tens of millions of new collectors, especially children and casual savers, into the hobby.

The obverse retains the standard Washington Quarter portrait by John Flanagan, facing left, with LIBERTY above, IN GOD WE TRUST to the left, and the date below. The reverse depicts Washington and soldiers crossing an ice-choked river in a small boat, with the legend NEW JERSEY, the ratification year 1787, and the national motto E PLURIBUS UNUM.

Circulation strikes were issued in copper-nickel clad from both the Philadelphia mint (no mint mark prior to 2017 rules... actually with a P mint mark) and Denver (D mint mark), located just below the date's era on the reverse rim near the motto. Silver proof versions, struck at San Francisco and sold only in proof sets, are noticeably more lustrous and reflective and carry an S mint mark.

Because hundreds of millions were struck for circulation, the 1999 New Jersey quarter has essentially no numismatic premium in worn or average uncirculated condition; most examples are worth face value. Value only rises meaningfully for coins certified in top gem uncirculated grades (MS67 and above) or for the 90% silver proof versions in pristine, spot-free condition.

Collectors most often seek this coin to complete a full 50 State Quarters folder or roll set rather than as a standalone investment, and its main appeal is historical and educational rather than financial.