State Of Kansas Gives Nation First Buffalo Quarter
HUTCHINSON, KANSAS - Join United States Mint Acting Director David Lebryk and Governor Kathleen Sebelius as they officially launch the Buffalo and Sunflower Kansas state quarter, the first quarter-dollar to feature a buffalo, a beloved symbol of Kansans and the Nation. The event at 9:30 a.m. (CDT) on September 9 will officially kick off the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson at the State Fairgrounds Grandstand, where a live American bison and her calf will be on view. Gates open at 8:30 a.m. and admission to the fairgrounds is free until 11 a.m.
Television personality Bill Kurtis will emcee the event, which will include musical entertainment by the Prairie Rose Wranglers and a horse-riding demonstration by the Wild Women of the Frontier. A quarter exchange will follow the launch. Bills may be exchanged for $10 rolls of Kansas quarters. Each child who attends the ceremony will receive a shiny, new Kansas quarter free.
The Kansas quarter is the fourth state quarter released in 2005. The Kansas quarter features images of a buffalo and a sunflower, two of the state's best known symbols. On January 19, 1861, Kansas became the 34th state admitted into the Union, and as such, it is the 34th coin to be issued in the United States Mint's popular 50 State Quarters Program.