Did you know that the second Tuesday in July is Cow Appreciation Day? It’s a holiday when we get to say “Thank moo very much” to our bovine family and friends. And so many of us have plenty of love to show them. After all, cows provide milk, meat, leather, and so much more. Others are there for us not as agricultural, epicurean, or apparel commodities but rather as companions. Therapy cows exist to help individuals cope with anxiety by way of receiving hugs, enjoying some friendly pats, and providing good ol’ cud-chewing company.
Given their cultural and practical importance, cows have unsurprisingly been featured on many coins, including the 2004 Wisconsin State Quarter. It’s little wonder that a bovinian design appears on the quarter featuring Wisconsin, the northern Great Lakes state known as “America’s Dairyland.” The 2004 Wisconsin Quarter also showcases a wheel of cheese (perhaps a coagulated byproduct of the depicted cow?) and an ear of corn, both of which represent Wisconsin as a cradle of agriculture in general.
The 2004 Wisconsin Quarter provides more than just a numismatic opportunity for collectors to pay homage to the cow. It’s also ripe with exciting possibilities for variety collectors. The Denver-minted 2004-D Wisconsin Quarters are known with not just one but two intriguing and highly valuable varieties depicting what appears to be an extra leaf on the corn stalk. Both varieties entail what appears to be an extra leaf hanging over the cheese wheel. On the Extra Leaf Low, the superfluous appendage arches just over the top of the cheese wheel; on the Extra Leaf High, the additional leaf seems to spring up from the cheese wheel just to the left of the corn stalk.
Whether you’re pursuing the Wisconsin Quarter for the purpose of appreciating the cows of this world or to work closer to a numismatic goal, such as completing a 50 State Quarters Registry Set, the end result is the same. Your collection will become udderly better!