South Dakota Quarter released

To embody South Dakota in coin form, a quarter comes out tomorrow that depicts two of the state’s biggest attractions.

Mount Rushmore is featured on the coin with a ring-necked pheasant in flight above the presidents’ heads.

As the 40th state’s quarter is released, marking the end of the eighth year of the U.S. Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program, many in the coin collecting business point to this series as a sparkplug for the hobby.

“The program has rekindled an interest that was being lost,” says Bill Tinkcom, who owns and operates Coins & Collectibles in Sioux Falls. “Almost every collector has them all. I have guys who check in each week to see if the new ones have come out.”

As arguably the most collected series of coins in the history of U.S. currency, the state quarters series has some coins that have become “holy grails” but for the most part, collectors say the coins are entertaining first.

“They should be used as educational tools, but not as an investment,” says Paul Chabot, who owns The Coin Shop in Sioux Falls. “The number of each one produced will be in the hundreds of millions. They are souvenirs. That’s how most collectors see them.”

Time will tell if the South Dakota quarter, with its faces and pheasant, will become as highly-regarded as other coins in the series. But a closer look at the hobby of coin collecting - numismatics is the official name of the hobby - can help put tomorrow’s big release in perspective.

Read the rest at Argus Leader.