The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 12, March 21, 2005, Article 23

COLORADO QUARTER DESIGNS

Steve Dippolito writes: "I saw the five finalist designs the
day they came out. As a nearly life-long Coloradoan I can
say that the critics need to jump into the nearest lake:
None of them are as atrocious as the Pennsylvania, Michigan,
or Texas designs--and I picked those three at semi-random;
I could name many other states. An informal poll of my
co-workers and some friends (only a couple of whom are
seriously into numismatics) shows that the 10th mountain
division skier is least popular (however, those who like it,
_really_ like it), while the columbine/centennial state one
(the backdrop for which is the very commonly photographed
Maroon Bells mountains near Aspen, BTW) is most popular.
Oddly enough, the Pikes Peak design, which ought to be the
local favorite (I am in Colorado Springs) is not terribly popular.
The artistic criticisms that seemed legitimate to me were that
Mesa Verde might not show very well on a coin, and that the
"Colorful Colorado" mountainscape would leave a gigantic
blank area in the middle of the coin. That one happens to
be my second least favorite if only because that mountainscape
looks kind of "blah" to me. But none of the designs is, in my
not so humble opinion, actually _bad_.

I am not terribly surprised that there was difficulty getting an
Eastern US artist to render the mountains properly. The
Appalacian mountains are much, much older than the Rockies
and consequently have been worn down to the point where
(to us Westerners) they look like very large rounded hills.
(That "very large" is the saving grace; I do consider the Great
Smokies to be mountains even though the tallest of them
barely comes up to the bottom of my well.) People I know
from the eastern US who come here to see the Rockies end
up with radically altered ideas of what a "mountain" is. (As
I am sure I would, if I ever saw the Himalayas, Tien Shan,
or Andes.)"

Steve Woodland writes: "I chuckled when I read of the
challenges facing the commission to select the final design
for Colorado's 2006 Statehood Quarter. Perhaps they
should adopt a new Canadian practice: asking the people
to vote for their preferred design using the Internet. The
Royal Canadian Mint recently invited the public to indicate
their preference for the new commemmorative 25-cent
pieces to be issued this summer, which celebrate the
centennials of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Via the RCM's website (www.mint.ca), people could 'vote'
for one of four designs for each 25-cent piece. When
voting ended on February 17th, over 45,000 total votes
had been received for the two coins."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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