USA state quarters - XIV

Tennessee state quarter

The Tennessee quarter celebrates the state's contributions to the US musical heritage. The design incorporates musical instruments and a score with the inscription "Musical Heritage." Three stars represent Tennessee's three regions and the instruments symbolize each region's distinct musical style.

The fiddle represents the Appalachian music of east Tennessee, the trumpet stands for the blues of west Tennessee for which Memphis is famous, and the guitar is for central Tennessee, home to Nashville, the capital of country music.

South Dakota state quarter

The South Dakota quarter features an image of the State bird, a Chinese ring-necked pheasant, in flight above a depiction of the Mount Rushmore National Monument, featuring the faces of four American Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. The design is bordered by heads of wheat.

Sculptor Gutzon Borglum began drilling into Mount Rushmore, the 5,725-foot peak rising above Harney National Forest, in 1927. Creation of the "Shrine of Democracy" took 14 years and cost approximately $1 million, though it is now deemed priceless.

USA South Carolina state quarter

The South Carolina quarter shows key state symbols- a Palmetto Tree, the Carolina Wren and the Yellow Jessamine. An outline of South Carolina, the nickname "The Palmetto State" and a star indicating the capital, Columbia, form the quarter's background.

The Carolina Wren, the state bird, and the Yellow Jessamine, the state flower, are native throughout South Carolina; the importance of the Palmetto Tree, the state tree, dates back to the Revolutionary War. In 1776, colonists in a small fort built of Palmetto logs successfully defeated a British fleet trying to capture Charleston Harbor. Since then, South Carolina has been called "The Palmetto State".