Just read in the Numismatic News that the ceremony for the release of the Yellowstone quarters is Thursday, June 3. However, today (June 2) I was able to get these quarters from the change machine in the lobby of the Philadelphia Mint. Is it normal for early releases of quarters to occur like this?
While I don't know if that's what usually happened, you are right that the next America the Beautiful Quarter will be officially released in an event at Yellowstone National Park today. I plan to watch the US Mint's live webcast of the announcement on their website (since I'll be stuck at work today).
For the Parks quarters it's hard to say since this is only the second one. For the state quarters no it was not normal but it did happen sometimes. With the state quarters banks could order the coins a couple weeks ahead of the official issue date and they would come in marked Do not distribute before XX/XX/XXXX. Since the Parks quarters can't be specifically ordered this is not the case, so if a bank just happened to get a shipment before the official release date they could go ahead and distribute them.
I think the real answer can be found on the us mint's website. The Yellowstone korters were released on June 1st but the "official release ceremony" was on June 3rd. The official "release" ceremony, which is simply a public ceremony, often times comes after the rolls and bags are released on the Web site.
Yellowstone National Park Quarter webcast For anyone who missed the quarter release event at Yellowstone National Park, the United States Mint has a great site with a recorded webcast and plenty of info about the new coin. Check it out at: http://bit.ly/b2Oxmd
I got the Yellowstone on June first at the Mint Headquarters in DC. The line was long and one a$$ got like $50 worth. Mint Security finally told him to move along when the line started getting angry and started yelling at him. There is always one in every crowd.
