Coin Bear History
History of the Limited Treasure Coin Bears
Do you remember the Beanie Baby fad and how customers would stand in line just to get one beanie bear? The fad of the Beanie Baby, as we knew it back then, has come and gone. Yes, the beanie babies are still out there, but new fads evolved... the U.S. Mint state quarters combined with cute 9” collectible stuffed bears.
THE STORY OF THE CUTE STATE COLLECTIBLE COIN BEARS BEGINS
In October 15, 1998, the company Limited Treasures, Inc. first started producing 9” stuffed collectible bears called Home Heroes. These small stuffed bears consisted of a police bear, rescue fire bear, Army bear, Navy bear, Air Force bear, Marine bear, and more.
THE U.S. MINT INITIATES NEW STATE QUARTER COINS
In 1999, the U.S. mint initiated a new state quarter program featuring each of the nation’s states in the order they were ratified by the constitution or admitted into the Union. The 50 State Quarters were to be minted over 10 years, with five different states being released each year. Each state quarter was to be produced for about 10 weeks and then never to be produced again, making the earlier coins harder to find. And so, the collectors started collecting the states quarters as they were released.
1999 LIMITED TREASURES STARTS PRODUCING STATE QUARTER PLUSH BEARS
During this time, Limited Treasures started producing state quarter coin bears about 6-8 weeks after the U.S. state quarters were released. Each bear was designed with different colors and its statehood number on the bear's left foot. An actual U.S. minted state quarter was mounted on its right paw. The date the statehood was embroidered on the side of its right leg. (See chart below for each state and statehood.) To give the bears more history, the state’s name was embroidered across the chest of the bear with the outline shape of the state the bear representative. Inside each state's shape, an embroidered star was located, representing the approximate location of the state’s capital.
BEAR'S LIMITED TREASURES HANG TAG
Each bear has a Limited Treasures Coin Bear Hang Tag. Inside each hang tag is information about each state describing the state flag; information about the state flower, state bird, nickname, capital, and statehood. These cute collectible bears not only had the state quarters representing their state…but also contained educational information about each state.
CHART OF EACH STATE AND ITS STATEHOOD ADMISSION DATE
Below is a chart with not only the number of each state admitted to the United States, but the name of the state and the date it was admitted/statehood. You will also find this information on each of the collectible state coin bears, making the bears cute and educational.
Have fun collecting these adorable 9" Limited Treasures State Quarter Coin Bears. But remember ... these state quarter collectible bears are not only cute but educational also!
