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.

Pennsylvania became a state on December 12th, 1787, and was the second of the 50 State Quarters to be issued. Three distinct images are present on the coin: the female figure is a depiction of “Commonwealth”, a statue created by Roland Hinton Perry that stands in Pennsylvania’s capital; the roughly rectangular shape is an outline of the state’s border; and the small shape in the upper left corner is a keystone, in homage to Pennsylvania’s nickname, “the keystone state” (it was a prominent player in the country’s early political and economic development).