The Mississippi Quarter was the last release in 2002 for the State Quarters series. It is the 20th quarter in the series overall. The Governor of Mississippi sent three different designs to the U.S. Mint, from which they created the ‘Magnolia State’ design that the Governor chose to feature on the coin.
This coin has a picture of the magnolia flower, which was brought from Asia and named by Pierre Magnol. It was chosen as the state flower in 1900 by school children, but wasn’t officially declared until 1952. The flowers are adorned with the state nickname, ‘The Magnolia State’ printed in script above the image, along with the state name and year of statehood atop the coin like all the others.
Mississippi is in the Southern United States, and gets its name from the Mississippi River that flows alongside the state’s Western boundary. The state has a large economy in catfish farm-raising programs, along with other agricultural ventures. The state is bordered by Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana. By 10,000 BCE there were Native Americans and nomadic tribes in the South, who were hunter-gatherers and developed a very rich agricultural society.
Europeans didn’t come to the area until 1540, when Hernando de Soto passed through, and then the French came along. The three countries (Britain, Spain, and France) fought over these areas like most land that was discovered, until the British won control.