State quarter's design down to 3 finalists

Friday, January 20, 2006

State quarter's design down to 3 finalists
Salmon, Rainier, killer whale -- but no Sasquatch

By CURT WOODWARD
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

OLYMPIA -- Sorry, Sasquatch.

The three final design choices for Washington's official state quarter were released Thursday, and the mythical man-ape said to reside in the Pacific Northwest's dense forests was nowhere to be found.


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A panel led by honorary chairman and first gentleman Mike Gregoire chose three designs that will be familiar to Washingtonians. The nominees are:

A leaping salmon breaching the water in front of a conifer-trimmed Mount Rainier.
An American Indian-style drawing of a playful killer whale, spouting water and raising its tail flukes.
A salmon, apples and Mount Rainier within an outline of the state.

The two designs featuring salmon also incorporate "The Evergreen State" as a motto.

The State Quarter Advisory Commission asked the public to suggest designs and got more than 1,000 responses online. Gregoire said they ranged from the serious to the silly -- including Bigfoot.

"You're not going to be able to please everybody, but we hope we'll be able to represent the state and have something that people will be proud to have on the back of the quarter," he said.

The final designs, rendered by artists at the U.S. Mint, were chosen from about 20 versions that reflected five general themes.

The quarter committee whittled the options down to three specific designs. The two rejected options were a solitary Mount Rainier image centered on a state silhouette and a single apple plunked in the middle of the state's outline.

State officials plan to post the finalists on the Internet this spring, after the designs are reviewed by the U.S. Mint. An announcement of the winning design is expected soon afterward, and the coins should be available in March 2007.

The final decision rests with Gov. Christine Gregoire.

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