The Montana commemorative quarter‑dollar coin was released on January 29, 2007 in Helena and is the 41st coin in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program. Montana joined the Union on November 8, 1889, becoming the 41st state, and minting of the coin began on December 26, 2006. Edmund Moy, director of the U.S. Mint, announced that about 500 million Montana quarters would be produced over ten weeks at the Denver and Philadelphia mints and that no more would be made after that. The reverse of the coin features a bison skull above a Montana landscape with the inscription “Big Sky Country,” along with “Montana” and “1889,” while George Washington’s profile remains on the front of every quarter.

The bison skull is a powerful symbol that is sacred to many of Montana’s American Indian tribes. Similar images appear across the state on schools, businesses, road signs, and license plates. The design reflects Montana’s rich Native heritage as well as later chapters in its history, including visits by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the arrival of fur trappers, the gold rush of the 1860s, and the growth of cattle ranching. The nickname “Big Sky Country” reminds people of Montana’s wide‑open spaces and vast blue skies.

The quarter’s design was selected after the Montana Quarter Design Selection Commission—created by Governor Brian Schweitzer—gathered feedback and hosted a public online vote. Artists from the United States Mint, including sculptor‑engravers and members of the Artistic Infusion Program, turned ideas from Montana residents into four different proposed designs. The “Bison Skull” design was the one ultimately recommended to represent the state.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury approved the final design on June 22, 2006. The three other proposed designs were “Bull Elk,” which showed an elk on a rugged rock formation; “State Outline,” which highlighted mountains tapering into the eastern plains; and “Big Sky with River,” which featured Montana’s sky and a river emerging from a mountain range.

Interesting facts

• It costs the U.S. Mint about 14.7 cents to make a single quarter. Each quarter is roughly 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel, and the average coin can stay in circulation for around 30 years. In 2024 the Denver and Philadelphia mints produced about 5.6 billion coins, including 1.68 billion quarters, with pennies making up more than half of all the coins struck.
• The 50 State Quarters Program launched in 1999 and wrapped up in 2008, with five new quarters released each year in the order the states joined the Union. Montana’s quarter appeared in 2007, followed by quarters for Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah. Delaware, the first state, was honored first, and Hawaii, admitted in 1959, was the last state quarter released in 2008.