Virginia
Where the English first settled in America. Its reverse features the three ships that came to Jamestown.
Virginia is a state in the eastern United States, and its nickname is “Old Dominion.” It is a nickname carrying the meaning of a land with a long, storied history. In the 50 State Quarters series, it was issued in 2000 as the tenth coin (No. 10).
On the coin’s reverse, three ships are engraved side by side. They are the ships named Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery, and below are written together the words “Jamestown, 1607–2007” and “Quadricentennial” (400th anniversary).
These three ships are the vessels that crossed the Atlantic and arrived at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Jamestown is known as the first permanent English settlement established on the American continent. The words “1607–2007” and “Quadricentennial” written on the coin mean that it commemorates the year marking 400 years since that arrival.
Virginia ratified the U.S. Constitution on June 25, 1788, becoming the tenth state. The coin quietly reminds us that the story of this land, which later became America, in fact began with the arrival of three small ships far earlier still.
Holding the coin and gazing at the three ships, we naturally recall how the first steps of people who crossed an unfamiliar sea led to the long history of a nation.