The California State Quarter was issued as part of the U.S. Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program in 2005. From 1999-2008, a series of 50 state quarters were minted celebrating the unique attributes of each state. The State Quarters were released in a series of five per year and in the order that each state was admitted to the Union.

Each quarter retained its traditional portrait of Washington on the front, while the reverse carried imagery unique to each state. In California’s case, this was a scene with naturalist John Muir gazing on Yosemite with a California condor overhead. Every state created their own design, which was then approved by its governor before finally being issued by the U.S. Mint. The California Quarter was designed by Alfred Maletsky and engraved by Don Everhart.

(Public Law 105-124, 2005)