Mint producing Washington coins

TACOMA – The U.S. Mint has begun producing the new Washington state quarter, but it will be at least a month before anyone starts seeing the coins in their change.

The coins likely won’t begin being shipped out until around April 2, said Mike White, a spokesman for the U.S. Mint in Washington, D.C.

That’s about when the first shipment is expected to arrive at the Seattle branch of the Federal Reserve Bank.

From there, the coins will be distributed to commercial banks as they need them to restock their currency. Banks will have to special order the Washington quarters if they want them specifically, rather than just in a random assortment of all types of quarters.

The U.S. mints in Denver and Philadelphia will stamp out between 500 million and 700 million Washington quarters over the next 10 weeks.

The Washington quarter shows a king salmon leaping from the water with Mount Rainier in the background.

It is the 42nd state quarter to be minted, following the order of each state’s admission to the union. Idaho will be next.