January 27, 2003
COINS
The designs for the 2003 state quarters are up at the US Mint's web site. The five designs:
Illinois. Abe Lincoln superimposed over a map of the state, with the Chicago skyline in the background. Decent, I guess, though the "21st State/21st Century" angle is already crying out to be dated.
Alabama. Helen Keller, with her name spelled out in Braille. Kind of a nice touch, considering what Alabama could have picked. But I can't really imagine blind folks feeling through stacks of coins to see if they got this one.
Maine. A lighthouse. Shocking.
Missouri. Lewis and Clark rowing up a river, framed by the St. Louis Arch. Actually a pretty cool idea, though I think we all could have benefitted from finding out, once and for all, if they want us to pronounce it "Missour-ee" or "Missour-uh."
Arkansas. A duck, a diamond, some rice, and a river. Way too busy, guys. And way to tell the whole world that there's an open-to-the-public diamond mine in your state. I was planning to spend a week there in my forties and collect enough rocks to retire on. Now the place will be a mob scene.
Posted by michaelf at January 27, 2003 12:24 AM
