Wednesday, February 07, 2007

New Mexico State Quarter

Yesterday an article ran in the Santa Fe New Mexican about the final designs being considered for the New Mexico state quarter. New Mexico is one of the last five states to be commemorated, and our quarter is scheduled for release in 2008 (along with Alaska, Hawaii, and other laggards).

The current finalists for the design all show an outline of the state and a Zia Sun Symbol. Some include the tagline "Land of Enchantment" and some don't.

Rejected designs include strings of chilis, hot air balloons, UFOs, and a mushroom cloud. Click here to read the full text of the article. Current reader feedback indicates that by and large they think the proposed designs are boring.

Click here to read more about the Zia symbol, and its sacred meaning in the Zia Pueblo culture. The symbol is heavily used in New Mexico--on the state flag and license plate for example--and monetary compensation is currently being made to the Zia Pueblo for the use of the symbol.

Reading about the proposed New Mexico quarter prompted me to go and look at all the other state designs, and here are some of the things I noticed:

• Both North Carolina and Ohio feature the Wright Brothers

• Both Alabama and Mississippi include the magnolia

• Illinois has the busiest quarter--with Abe Lincoln, a farm scene, the Chicago skyline, the state outline, and 21 stars

• If the New Mexico Zia design goes through, it would be the only quarter (at least according to my observations) which features anything to do with Native America (if you don't count bison).

In your opinion, how well does your state quarter reflect what you think and feel about your state? (If you're not sure what your state quarter looks like, click here to see the images on the US Mint site.)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The symmetry of the Maryland quarter appeals to me

Anonymous said...

The Virginia quarter has a picture of the Godspeed, one of the 3 ships that brought settlers to Jamestown.

I did a show on that.

The North Carolina Quarter has a picture of the Wright Flyer.

I did a show on that.

48 more states, 48 more shows.

SantaFeKate said...

Ohio has the Wright Flyer too--so only 47 to go!