Well it’s not the 51st state yet but the “The Island of Enhancement,” otherwise known as Puerto Rico has received the United States’ first quarter with Spanish inscription on it.
The director of the U.S. Mint, Ed Moy, revealed the coin to Puerto Rico on Thursday, April 2nd in the Caribbean’s territory capital of San Juan. Puerto Rico, a colony of the U.S., is only the second region other than any of the 50 states to receive a special quarter. Like all United States quarter’s one side has the symbol of the country’s first president George Washington, but the reverse side however features a sentry box on a Spanish colonial fort and a hibiscus, the U.S. islands official flower, along with the phrase "Isla del Encanto" which means “The Island of Enhancement.”
Puerto Rico’s governor, Luis Fortuno, whose party favors making this Caribbean island the 51st U.S. state, confronted any statement that might suggest the inscription tells of any cultural differences that Puerto Rico might have with the United States.
Puerto Rico’s quarter went into circulation on Monday. Also, a quarter for the District of Columbia came out earlier this year, and the Mint is also coming up with other quarters later this year for Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.
-By Martin O'Donnell