2004-P Texas

Philadelphia's 2004 Texas quarter, the program's twenty-eighth issue, carries Norman E. Nemeth's spare reverse: an outline of the state with a single five-pointed star (the Lone Star) anchored over the central plains and a lariat coiling around the silhouette in the rope-loop pattern familiar from cowboy iconography. "The Lone Star State" arcs above the design. Texas joined the Union as the twenty-eighth state in December 1845, and the coin's June 1 release fell mid-program in the second half of the rollout. Philadelphia struck 278,800,000 pieces, the year's high P-mint output and the second-largest 2004-P number after Iowa's late-year lineup adjusted demand. Nemeth's restraint stands out among 2004 designs: where Florida packed three primary subjects into one field and Wisconsin layered dairy and agricultural elements, the Texas reverse runs three devices total against a clean field, with the lariat doubling as design frame.

Strikes on Philadelphia Texas come up cleanly when dies are fresh. The star's five points and the lariat's rope-twist detail resolve well on early-die-state coins; the lariat's interior knot is the first place to lose definition as dies wear because the rope-pattern engraving carries the design's finest line work. The state outline holds up across die life because it sits in lower relief. Washington's cheek and hair-above-ear stay the obverse weak points for grading, and 2004-P bag handling caps many candidates at MS66 through scattered field marks. PCGS and NGC populations run deep at MS66, narrower 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 anchored to the issue.

The 2004-P Texas pairs design clarity with the year's biggest P-mint output and carries the obvious display appeal of a Lone Star icon on a circulating coin. Roll searchers continue to pull premium strikes for full-detail gems, and MS67 examples remain available for collectors completing a top-grade run on a working budget. The design sits naturally in regional Southwest topical sets and complements the other large-state designs in the program. For wider context, see the 50 State Quarters series history.