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The store will be the exclusive southern Arizona retailer for the commemmorative displays and its Web site will be the exclusive online retailer.

By University Communications
June 2, 2008

The United States Mint released the long-awaited Arizona commemorative quarter today at a ceremony at the state Capitol. One of the easiest places to get the new coin will be The University of Arizona.

The UA BookStore will be the only place in southern Arizona where the commemorative displays can be purchased, and its Web site – www.uofabookstores.com – will be the only place where they can be purchased online.

Commemorative folios are available for $10, with proceeds benefiting the Arizona Centennial planning effort. Arizona will celebrate 100 years of statehood in 2012.

Commemorative folios can be purchased in three ways: In Phoenix, they will be sold at the State Capitol Museum gift shop. In Tucson, they will be sold at the UA BookStore in the Student Union Memorial Center. Online, they will be available on the UA BookStore's Web site.

During the week of the quarter's debut, cashiers in the Student Union and the UA BookStore will be giving out the new Arizona quarters as they dispense change.

Arizona's quarter is the third commemorative quarter-dollar coin released in 2008, and is the 48th coin in the U.S. Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program. Arizona was admitted into the Union on Feb. 14, 1912, and is the youngest state in the continental United States.

The Arizona quarter features an image of the Grand Canyon with a saguaro cactus in the foreground. A banner reading "Grand Canyon State" separates the two images to signify that the saguaro cactus does not grow in the Grand Canyon. The coin also bears the inscriptions "Arizona" and "1912."

The Arizona Quarter Commission, appointed by Gov. Janet Napolitano, solicited design suggestions from across the state. The commission narrowed down more than 4,200 ideas to five, which were sent to the U.S. Mint for consideration. The final artistic renderings, developed by Sculptor-Engravers of the United States Mint and artists in the United States Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program, were then proposed to Arizona, and a statewide online vote was conducted. On May 1, 2007, Napolitano announced her recommendation of the "Grand Canyon with Saguaro Cactus" design, based on the results of the online poll.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury approved the design on May 25, 2007. The other design concepts considered during the final selection process were "Grand Canyon," featuring an overview of the Grand Canyon; "Grand Canyon with Saguaro Cacti," featuring the Saguaro cactus as the central design with the Grand Canyon in the background; "Powell’s Grand Canyon Expedition," depicting the John Wesley Powell expedition in a boat going through rapids; and "Navajo Code Talkers," depicting two Navajo code talkers using World War II field communication equipment.