| The Virginia quarter, the tenth
coin released under the 50 States Quarter ™ Program, honors our
nation's oldest colony, Jamestown, VA. Jamestown turns 400 years
old in 2007. The selected design features the three ships, Susan
Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery.
These ships brought the first English settlers to Jamestown. |
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On April 10, 1606, King James
I of England chartered the Virginia Company to encourage colonization
in the New World. The first expedition, consisting of the three
ships depicted on the quarter, embarked from London on December
20, 1606. On May 12, 1607, they landed on a small island along
the James River nearly 60 miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake
Bay. It was here the original settlers (104 men and boys) established
the first permanent English settlement called Jamestown, in
honor of King James I.
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