Alaska Chooses #49

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin unveiled the design for the quarter that would represent Alaska as part of the 50 State Quarters&reg program. The design will feature a bear wading in a stream with a salmon in its mouth and the caption “The Great Land.” An addition design element is the star that will appear to the right of the state name acknowledging Alaska’s place as our northern most state.

Governor Palin will forward the design to the US Mint for inclusion in the program. Once called Seward’s Folley for Secretary of State William H. Seward Jr., who promoted the purchase in 1867. Alaska was seen as a frozen waste and too far from the mainland of the United States. Later, the abundance of natural resources, including petroleum, redeemed Seward from eternal scorn. Alaska entered the union in 1959 as the 49th state. Its quarter is scheduled to be issued during the summer of 2008.

Coin image from the Alaska Commemorative Coin Commission.

Hawaii Selects Design of Last Quarter

Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle announced that she has selected the state’s recommended design for the last of the 50 State Quarters.® Governor Lingle accepted the recommendation of the Hawaii Commemorative Quarter Advisory Commission which validated the results of a public on-line poll. The design selected received the most number of votes in the poll.

The design chosen includes the King Kamehameha I statue on the right side of the coin, with his hand stretching toward a map of the eight main Hawaiian islands. The State motto, “Ua mau ke ea o ka ‘āina i ka pono” (The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness) will be on the lower left side of the coin. The rest of the elements are what is required by the 50 State Quarters program.

The governor said that the design will be submitted to the US Mint for approval. Hawaii’s Commemorative Quarter is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2008 and will be produced for 10 weeks as the last quarter of the series.

Image courtesy of the Hawaii Governor’s office.

CFA To Approve Last State Quarters

The Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) is scheduled to meet on Thursday, January 18, 2007. On the schedule is the final approval of the designs for the 2008 50 State Quarters® reverses to commemorate Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, and Hawaii. Unless H.R. 392 passes, 2008 will be the last year of the program.

The CFA meets at the National Building Museum, 401 F ST NW, Washington, DC in Suite 318 starting at 10:00 AM. Meetings are open to the public.

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