2002-D Mississippi

Denver's 2002 Mississippi quarter, the twentieth program release and the closing 2002 design, shares Donna Weaver's reverse with the Philadelphia coin: two large magnolia blossoms in full bloom across a branched composition, with the legend "The Magnolia State" curving along the bottom. The magnolia holds dual status in Mississippi as both the state flower and the state tree, and the design commission chose a tightly focused floral composition rather than the buildings or human figures that anchored most other 2002 reverses. Denver produced 289,600,000 coins, trailing Philadelphia by only 400,000 pieces and posting the narrowest P-D split of any 2002 issue. The pair represents one of the lowest combined mintages of any 2002 state.

Denver strikes on Mississippi generally come up well-defined on the central blossoms, but die-fill issues show up in the spaces between the layered petals and along the branch on late-die-state Denver coins more often than on Philadelphia equivalents. The small "The Magnolia State" lettering can soften under heavy die wear. Washington's cheek and the field behind his head remain the obverse weak points for grading; bag-handling at the originating Mint scatters small marks across these areas and caps many candidates short of MS67. PCGS and NGC populations are deep at MS66, thinner at MS67, and meaningfully scarce at MS68 in the population reports kept by the two major third-party grading services (TPGs). No FS-listed varieties have established themselves on the issue.

The 2002-D Mississippi benefits from one of the lower combined 2002 mintages and from broad cross-appeal to floral and botanical collectors, which keeps it popular as a one-coin display piece beyond the registry-set audience. Roll searchers still pull premium strikes for full-petal gems where the layered blossoms render cleanly, and MS67 examples remain accessible for collectors completing a top-grade program run on a working budget. For wider context, see the 50 State Quarters series history.