All the state quarter design possibilities for 2007 are now in the hands of the U.S. Mint.
And on Dec. 21, the Associated Press reported that the Wyoming Secretary of State?s Office had issued the U.S. Treasury Department a license to use Wyoming?s bucking horse and rider trademark for its state quarter.
U.S. Mint artists will soon begin work on design images.
Three concept designs for the Utah commemorative quarter were submitted Dec. 15. Utah was the last of the five states with new quarters coming out in 2007 to turn in designs.
Utah?s concept narratives include: the Golden Spike/Locomotive, in honor of the first transcontinental railroad that was completed in 1869 at Promontory, Utah; the Beehive, which became the official state emblem in 1959; and Winter Sports, which honors the state?s ski and snowboard industry and Utah?s hosting of the XIX Winter Olympic Games in 2002.
?It?s been a great challenge trying to narrow so many possibilities down to one simple concept,? said Maralee Oleson, a member of the Utah Commemorative Quarter Commission.
Wyoming has submitted five design suggestions, four of which feature the state?s bucking horse and rider image. The fifth features the Old Faithful geyser. The Wyoming quarter is scheduled to be minted in August 2007.
Montana turned in four narrative options. The first is the Bull Elk design, which shows a bull elk posed on a rugged rock formation as the sun rises over the horizon of the plains of eastern Montana. Second is the Bison Skull design, with an Indian feather hanging from one horn of the skull. Third is the State Outline design, which also features the mountains the state is known for. And last is the Big Sky Country design, which shows the sky, a few clouds and a Montana mountain range in the background. That design could feature the words ?Big Sky Country? as well.
The final five designs for 2007 are expected to be picked by late in the spring of 2006.
The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee will study the designs at its Jan. 24, 2006, meeting.
