Released on Novermber 6, 2006, this is the 40th coin released in the 50 State Quarters Program and the fifth released in 2006. South Dakota, admitted in the Union on November 2, 1889, themed the coin, Mount Rushmore and Pheasant. Images are the State bird, the Chinese ring-necked pheasant in flight above the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, a sculpture of four American Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. The image is bordered by heads of wheat. Launched in 1999, the United States Mint s 50 State Quarters Program was a 10-year initiative that honored each of the nation s states in the order that they ratified the Constitution or were admitted into the Union. Each quarter was produced for about 10 weeks and will never be produced again. State designs are displayed on the reverse (tails) of the quarters, while the obverse design displays the familiar image of George Washington. But, to accommodate state designs on the reverse, the words United States of America, Quarter Dollar, Liberty, and In God We Trust all appear on the obverse. South Dakota is an expansive, sparsely populated midwestern U.S. state where rolling prairies give way to the dramatic Black Hills National Forest. Black Hills is home to 2 historical monuments carved right into towering granite peaks: Mt. Rushmore, the iconic depiction of 4 revered U.S. presidents, and Crazy Horse Memorial, a tribute to the storied Native American tribal leader.