Maine's State quarter dollar will feature a lighthouse and a sailing ship, according to Gov. Angus S. King Jr.
The design, voted upon by Maine residents online, was one of four potential Maine State quarter dollar designs presented to the public.
More than 100,000 Maine residents voted on the four designs. Voting was open for two weeks before closing Aug. 7.
Daniel J. Carr, of Colorado, submitted the original design, which features a rocky shoreline with a lighthouse, based on the Pemiquid Light, and a three-masted schooner, based on the Victory Chimes, which sails out of Rockland, Maine.
Carr also designed the 2001 New York and Rhode Island State quarter dollars.
The United States Mint's version of Carr's design, which is the design that will be coined, has received some criticism from Maine residents.
Brian Kent, who submitted one of the other four final designs, said that revamped version of Carr's design places the lighthouse on a rocky cliff that does not exist. Kent was highly critical of the changes made to his design (see Coin World, Aug. 19, Page 3).
Others were critical of the Mint's rendering of Carr's design as well.
"The Mint's treatment of the original drawing by Daniel J. Carr of this coastal landmark is shabby and inexplicable," the Bangor Daily News charged. "Misproportion and clutter seem to be consistent elements of Mint style."
The newspaper reported that the schooner appearing on the selected design resembles Maryland's Pride of Baltimore II more than it resembles the Victory Chimes.
The design's lighthouse also has received the newspaper's scorn. "The Mint's [rendering], for some strange reason, makes us think of a round of miniature golf."
Tony Sprague of the governor's office said the office understood that the Mint would have to make modifications to the designs to improve their coinability. He said that the landmarks depicted on the designs were "inspired by" the real ones as opposed to being exact representations.
"The original drawings were probably more artistically accurate," he said.
The Maine State quarter dollar is the 23rd quarter in the Mint's 50 State quarters program. It will be released in May 2003.
The round of criticism is the latest to surface in recent weeks about the Mint's changes to the original designs selected by the individual states. Artist Paul Jackson, who has a design that is one of the finalists for the Missouri quarter dollar, has waged a vocal, high-profile campaign against the Mint's changes to his designs.
