Five of these unique coins were released over the course of each year, every one representing a different state. The order of their release was determined by when that state became an official part of the USA. The obverse of the coins features the standard imagery of 25-cent pieces – a profile portrait of George Washington – but the reverse features an array of images and symbols representing the history and culture of that particular state. The reverse also features the year that the coin was cast and the year of the state’s official founding.

Connecticut became a state on January 9th, 1788, and was the fifth of the 50 State Quarters to be issued. The tree depicted on the coin is known as “the charter oak” and it holds a special place in the history of the state; in 1687, the British government demanded that the colony of Connecticut surrender its government’s charter, but the document was smuggled away and hidden in a specific White Oak tree (which stood until it was blown down by a storm in 1856).