Proposed designs for the 2003 State quarter dollars were scrutinized March 21 and 22 by the Commission of Fine Arts and the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee. The two agencies forwarded their recommendations to the Treasury secretary for his preliminary approval.
The legislation authorizing the State quarter dollars program requires the Treasury Department to consult both agencies over the designs. The Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) met March 21; the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee (CCCAC) reviewed the designs March 22.
2003 State quarter dollars will be produced for Illinois, Alabama, Maine, Missouri and Arkansas.
The design sketches rendered by the Mint's engraving staff at the Philadelphia Mint were based on concepts submitted by the governors of the respective states or their designated representatives. The governors reviewed the designs in February, with their design preference made known upon the sketches' return to the Mint for submission to the reviewing panels.
Mint officials submitted 24 sketches for the CFA and CCCAC reviews: six for Alabama, five each for Illinois and Missouri, and four each for Maine and Arkansas. Once the CFA and CCCAC recommendations are made to the secretary of the Treasury and any modifications to the designs rendered, the designs are to be forwarded to each state for their final pick.
CCCAC Chairman Elsie Sterling Howard said committee members were impressed with the quality of the rendered designs.
For Illinois, both the CFA and CCCAC preferred Mint Sculptor-Engraver Donna Weaver's design featuring Abraham Lincoln as a young lawyer, seated with a book in his lap and books on a nearby stand, flanked by 21 five-pointed stars representing Illinois as the 21st state. An outline of the state with a star marking the state capital to the viewer's left, with the LAND OF LINCOLN to the right.
However, Illinois Gov. George H. Ryan supports Mint Sculptor-Engraver T. James Ferrell's design incorporating state symbols - the cardinal perched on a branch of the white oak. Also featured is the monarch butterfly and state flower, and LAND OF LINCOLN.
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CCCAC OFFICIALS considered the two top designs for the Missouri quarter dollar as suitable. The Commission of Fine Arts thought the Pony Express design too similar to that used on the 1999 Delaware quarter dollar, which depicts Caesar Rodney on horseback. Commission of Fine Arts officials also worried about the message the design shown to the upper left might convey.
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The CFA and CCCAC also agreed in their recommendation for Alabama - a design by Mint Sculptor-Engraver Norman E. Nemeth featuring prominently the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, the scene of many historic events of worldwide significance. The coin's reverse design is bordered on the right by a branch of camellias, Alabama's state flower, and on the left by a branch of needles and cones from the southern longleaf pine.
Another design, that by Weaver showing the state bird, the yellowhammer, perched on a branch of the state tree, with an outline of the state and star marking the state capital, was also deemed suitable by the CFA and CCCAC.
The state's governor, Don Siegelman, prefers a design bearing state symbols.
Weaver's submission for Maine immediately captured the attention of members of both the CFA and CCCAC. The design features the Pemiquid Point Light, with beams of light reaching outward on the sculpted, rocky shore of the Maine coastline. A schooner navigates the coast as sea birds circle.
Maine Gov. Angus King's preferred concept of OUR NATION'S FIRST LIGHT is embodied in a design by Mint Sculptor-Engraver John Mercanti. The sun rises behind the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse in Lubec, with a bold North Star to the left taken from the state flag and in the right field, a white pine, the state tree.
Another concept presented by King and rendered by Mint Sculptor-Engraver Al Maletsky, features Maine's natural environment and tribal traditions. In the foreground, a Wabanaki Indian can be seen between the pine trees paddling a canoe with the distinctive Knife Edge range of Mount Katahdin in the background.
For Missouri, CFA Historian Sue Kohler said commission members would like to see Ferrell's conceptual design incorporating the Arch in St. Louis as the Gateway to the West redesigned and resubmitted without the canoe and explorers' Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Kohler said it was suggested other historical buildings in the area of the Arch could be incorporated.
Kohler said the commission thought Ferrell's design showing a Pony Express rider looked too much like Caesar Rodney on the 1999 Delaware quarter dollar. The commission also questioned another of Ferrell's designs, one showing an American Indian on horseback surveying a wagon train, noting it conveyed a confused message as to whether the thoughts on the Indian's mind were of a peaceful nature or not.
The CCCAC's concern about Ferrell's arch design was more tied to the fact a Lewis and Clark commemorative silver dollar will be issued in 2004. Howard said the CCCAC believed Ferrell's Indian surveying the land design with inscription GATEWAY TO THE WEST and another by Maletsky of a pioneer walking in front of his Conestoga wagon were suitable.
Mint officials did not note what design concept Missouri Gov. Bob Holden prefers.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee prefers a coin design that represents the natural aspects of the state. According to Kohler, while the CFA had difficulty in making their selection, the panel recommended Maletsky's submission featuring an outline of the state, with rice stalks to the left of the banner, inscribed with NATURAL STATE at the top. A view of the Ozark Mountain range with native pine is depicted, with a pair of mallard ducks rising in flight.
Howard said the CCCAC had mixed emotions about the Arkansas designs. While favoring Nemeth's design featuring the State Capitol building in Little Rock within an outline of the state with the state bird, the mockingbird, in the upper left on a pine branch, there was some concern about having two coins in the same calendar year bearing a State Capitol building.
