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In 10 years from now will anyone know what the designs were supposed to mean on the State quarter dollars?
It is fair to say that not everyone in a particular state, let alone the rest of the nation, always recognizes what each State quarter dollar design is trying to convey.
That's the point an Oklahoma newspaper columnist recently made about the 2008 Oklahoma quarter dollar design.
Michael Overall observes in a column published in the Feb. 11 issue of the Tulsa World that not everyone will understand the design depicting several gaillardia blossoms and a scissor-tailed flycatcher in flight above the blossoms.
Overall writes tounge in cheek that the gaillardia "grows wild in Maine and Nevada and Georgia and 33 other states. Even Hawaii. But when it blooms every summer, it reminds people everywhere of Oklahoma, because everybody knows that gaillardia is the state wildflower. Of course they do.
"And no matter where you go in America, from the Florida Everglades to the California redwood forests, when people ask where you are from, you need only to say 'from the land of the scissor-tailed flycatcher.' They'll know exactly what you mean. Of course they will."
The design selected for Oklahoma's quarter dollar was based on the results of a statewide online poll and received more than 50 percent of the vote out of a total of 148,000 votes recorded.
The other proposed designs featured:
? A gushing oil derrick, a representation of the Pioneer Woman bronze statue in Ponca City, Okla., and a three-dimensional outline of the state framed with stalks of wheat. The statue depicts a young woman wearing a sunbonnet and carrying a Bible under her right arm as she leads a young boy by the hand.
? A representation of the Pioneer Woman statue and an American Indian calumet, also known as a "peace pipe," superimposed over a three-dimensional outline of the state.
? A small three-dimensional outline of the state with rays radiating from it with an American Indian calumet and a representation of the Pioneer Woman statue with the design elements flanked by single stalks of wheat.
? An old-fashioned windmill at the left side of the design and a gushing oil derrick to the right, along with a figure inspired by the Pioneer Woman statue.
Overall writes that "somebody suggested that Oklahoma's quarter should include a covered wagon, especially considering that most of the country believes we still commute to work that way. But Nebraska beat us to it. Somebody else recommended a bison. But Kansas did that already."
Whether you agree with Overall's observations or not, we can agree that collectors will still be doing their duty and sharing what they know about these coins even 10 years from now.
First Reports
Tom Lockyer of South Carolina reported Feb. 14 that he received a 2008-P Oklahoma quarter dollar in change.
Circulation Reports
We received no reports this week.
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