Celebrating the Great Lakes with the 2004 Michigan State Quarter

May 6 is Great Lakes Awareness Day, and it is an occasion to turn our eyes toward the gorgeous shores of the northern-central United States. Covering a combined 94,250 square miles, the Great Lakes encompass some of the largest lakes found anywhere in the world, and they make up the globe’s largest freshwater system. The names of the five lakes comprising the Great Lakes can be easily remembered by the mnemonic HOMES: Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and Lake Superior.

The Great Lakes lap the edges of eight states, including Michigan. In fact, Michigan is bordered by four of the five lakes – Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. So there’s little wonder why Michigan is also known as the “Great Lakes State.” Michigan occupies an interesting geographical sliver of the nation, with the state composed of two distinct regions known as the Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula. It’s some of the prettiest territory in the Upper Midwest, and many of its citizens are quite proud to call their state home.

Presumably, many were also pretty tickled to see the geographical outline of their state and its surrounding lakes grace the reverse of a 50 State Quarter in 2004. The Michigan State Quarter boldly outlines not just the Great Lakes State, but also the Great Lakes themselves. The remarkably accurate reverse design by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program designer Donna Weaver shows the state territory of Michigan surrounded by Lakes Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Superior, with Lake Ontario off to the upper-right side of the design, disconnected from the state-line motif but present on the canvas to showcase the lake’s integral connection to the larger Great Lakes system. The 2004 Michigan State Quarter can be included in a number of PCGS Registry Sets and is an essential addition for any collector with a love of nature or interest in the map-centric field of cartography.