Twelve-year-old Madeline Williams got hooked on the U.S. Mint's 50 State Quarters Program last year when she held a Massachusetts quarter, and now she can't wait for Hawai'i's quarter to arrive on Nov. 10.

"I just saw the back of a quarter and thought it looked cool and realized there were others and started collecting them," Madeline said. "But I've always wanted the quarter that was my state."

Gov. Linda Lingle was in the Denver Mint yesterday to symbolically stamp the first of 220 million to 250 million general circulation Hawai'i quarters that will complete the 50-state collection. The coin series is one that children, their grandparents and untold others have been collecting over the past 10 years.

Mint employees erected a sign at the mint yesterday that read, "Hawai'i quarter minted today — the only quarter with a king," said Jonathan Johnson, who attended the ceremony as chairman of Hawai'i's quarter commission.

"Obviously, the coin will be the most sought after because it's the 50th one," Johnson said. "Everyone will want to pick it up because it concludes the set."

The back of the Hawai'i quarter features a likeness of King Kamehameha I, the island chain and Hawai'i's state motto, "Ua mau ke ea o ka 'aina i ka pono — The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness."

Since the beginning of the year, people in Hawai'i actually have been able to buy more expensive versions of the Hawai'i quarter — "proof coins" that are made out of specially selected, treated, polished and cleaned proof blanks that are struck at least twice to provide extra detail and clarity.

Also available have been even more spectacular "silver proofs" struck in 90 percent silver.

The proof and silver proofs bear the "S" mint mark of the San Francisco Mint and can only be purchased in a sealed case that includes other quarters released this year honoring Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona and Alaska.

"The silver proof is too expensive for my hobby," said Walter Soh, 72, who made a Plexiglas case for his 50-state quarter collection.

Soh was never much of a collector — until he got entranced by the 50-state quarter series. Much of the series' charm lies in its accessibility and simplicity, Soh said.

"If I collected other coins, there would be no limit," he said. "It would be too expensive for my taste. With these quarters, there's an end to it."

The Mint, in fact, calls the quarter series its most successful ever, with more than 34 billion in circulation. The quarters have been released in 10-week intervals in the order that states were admitted into the union, leaving Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska and Hawai'i for this year.

The Hawai'i quarter actually will be released on Nov. 3 but will be unveiled Nov. 10 at a ceremony at Tamarind Square.

The general circulation quarters are made out of copper nickel and are struck just once. Hawai'i quarters sent directly to the Islands will bear a "D" from the Denver Mint. Others shipped east of Mississippi will bear a "P" for the Philadelphia Mint, Johnson said.

"This has been terrific," he said. "It's brought the national spotlight to Hawai'i. Even the Mint people knew how to pronounce the motto and they all knew the English translation. And that's part of the whole quarter program — to try to understand each state."

For 90 minutes on Nov. 10, First Hawaiian Bank will have the exclusive distribution rights to the Hawai'i quarter, said Gary Fujitani, executive director of the Hawaii Bankers Association.

"They get a head start," Fujitani said.

When the ceremony concludes at 2 p.m., all other FDIC depository institutions can then start distributing the quarters, Fujitani said.

"The amount all depends on each bank and the limits they may impose," Fujitani said.