Started in 1999 with the release of the Delaware State Quarter, commemorative state quarters have become a popular collectible with old and young alike.

While there are many places on line to buy the quarters, including the U.S. Mint, the easiest and cheapest way to acquire them is from your local bank or in your every day change.

Collecting State Quarters is a great way for kids to learn about the different states, and if they collect them from loose change it's a hobby that costs nothing. The great thing is that when they get tired of their collection they can always spend it.

It's relatively easy to collect State Quarters out of loose change. I took my loose change jar and started looking through the quarters. Without even trying, I had acquired 31 of the current 40 state quarters in circulation.

If you need help figuring out if your collection is complete and when the next coin is to be released, the U.S. Mint website maintains a detailed list of State Quarters to help you organized your collection. The list provides the release date of each quarter along with the date each state obtained statehood and the number of coins minted.

To learn more about each coin, including the story behind the design chosen for each state, simply click on the highlighted state link in the list.

The mint also offers free downloadable lesson plans about the State Quarters. In addition to history behind the coins, included are handouts, games and learning activities that can be reproduced and distributed to students.

While the lesson plans are designed for classroom and home school use, anyone can download the lessons.

Once you start your collection, there are several ways to store it. Of course the cheapest way is in a jar, a box or some other container sitting around the house. If you want to organize and display your collection you might want to invest in a coin folder.

The Official U.S. Mint 50 State Quarters 1999-2008 Folder allows you to organize a quarter collection and makes a great gift for adults and teens.

For kids the US Commemorative Quarter Map provides a colorful way to organize all the quarters in a map of the United States. Kids can visually connect the coins to a specific state. It's a great way for kids to learn the geography of the U.S. while having fun.

Kid's Statehood Quarters Collectors Folder: With Information on Collecting Other Cool Coins has a coin album for storing the state quarters as well as an informative booklet about coin collecting.