February 26, 2008
District Submits Quarter Design Proposals
Barring any unwelcome intrusions, sometime in 2009 the U.S. Mint could roll out an official D.C. quarter bearing the city's slogan, "Taxation Without Representation," to great fanfare. But considering that unwelcome intrusions are part and parcel of living in the District, we're not yet holding our breath.
Yesterday Mayor Adrian Fenty formally submitted the District's three proposals for its own quarter to Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson, arguing in a memo that the voting rights message accurately reflected the mission of the 50 State Quarters program. While all three suggested designs would feature the "Taxation Without Representation" slogan, one bears the stars and bars of the District's flag, another the image of abolitionist and inventor Benjamin Banneker, and a third the image of legendary jazz musician Duke Ellington. In a memo to Paulson, Stephanie D. Scott, the Liaison to the U.S. Mint for the District, stressed the importance of the voting rights message for the District's quarter:
"As the phrases 'In God we Trust' and 'Out of Many, One' have come to symbolize us all as Americans, 'Taxation Without Representation' has become an enduring representation of the District of Columbia...[It] stands as an apolitical and non-partisan motto; a declarative and defining fact about the District of Columbia."But whether the final quarter will actually bear the message is ultimately up to the U.S. Mint -- which already expressed discomfort with the voting rights theme -- and Paulson. According to the U.S. Mint's own guidelines for the seven-step process, Paulson will eventually have to sign off on the design, but only after the U.S. Mint, "at its discretion," produces one or more designs for each proposal while focusing on "aesthetic beauty, historical accuracy, appropriateness and coinability." Even before it gets to Paulson, who could summarily reject the design, the District faces a U.S. Mint that seems to think that voting rights is just too controversial a subject for a coin.
We're proud of the three submissions; any of them will reflect our city well. Now we just have to make sure that one of our proposals become reality -- and that we don't get stuck with a D.C. quarter bearing the Washington Monument.
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Regardless of the design, using an electric engraver to etch "fnord" or "Nobody bother me, either!" on George Washington's head is technically a Federal crime of defacing public property and will result in punishment to the fullest extent of the law (18 U.S.C. 331).
Yeah, "In God we Trust" does a great job of symbolizing us all as Americans.. especially the 15% that doesn't believe in God.
In Xenu We Trust.
Does anyone have a link to see the three possible quarter designs?
Perhaps the design should be a map of DC in the middle of the quarter, with the perimeter corresponding to the fallout zone radius.
DC web page has a .pdf link, at the bottom of a press release on the designs.
I take that back. The .pdf just has a more detailed description of each design, but no images.
Why not the late taxi zone map? Maybe a half smoke?
Thanks Mike!
Unless special exceptions are being made for this quarter because it isn't actually a state or part of the 50 State Quarters set, these designs just make it sound like the District is incapable of following the simplest of guidelines. From the US Mint's guidelines:
Regarding designs for the quarters' reverse, Public Law 105-124 specifies that "no portrait of a living person shall be included in any design," prohibits any "head and shoulder portrait or bust of any person, living or dead," and gives the Secretary of the Treasury final approval of each design, with the direction that he "shall not select any frivolous or inappropriate design."
Suitable subject matter for design concepts include state landmarks (natural and man-made), landscapes, historically significant buildings, symbols of state resources or industries, official state flora and fauna, state icons (e.g., Texas Lone Star, Wyoming bronco, etc.), and outlines of states. State flags and seals are not considered suitable.Putting someone's portrait on the "state" side is dumb, because who wants a two-headed quarter? And using the stars and bars from the D.C. flag is a cop-out.
Let's do the liberty bell and really confuse the heck out of people!
"Putting someone's portrait on the "state" side is dumb, because who wants a two-headed quarter?"
The law you cite is designed to prevent a two-headed quarter. Any person on the reverse must be depicted in a full portrait. See Alabama's quarter for an example.
I nominate....
"Equality, Nothing More...Equality, Nothing Less"
How about "Consent of the Governed" (or "Governed Without Consent")?
(or is that too "controversial")....?
Maybe "Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends" ???
or
"We have not yet begun to fight"?
I don't give a particular D _ _ _ about the quarter, but as a citizen of this nation, I DEMAND equal representation!
oh, yeah, and Maryland... lessee, isn't that the folks who sold DC down the river over 200 years ago, and don't want us back?
And nobody should stamp in red the phrase "Taxation Without Representation" on all the currency that passes through their hands, either.
I totally agree HCE, however I am hardly surprised that the District went this route. Listen, I think Benjamin Banneker was an impressive fellow. But guess what, he lived in Maryland for pretty much his entire life. I don't think the fact he helped survey the District is enough of a nexus to say he is a symbol of the city. It's not like Pennsylvania considered putting Mason and Dixon on their quarter.
And I also think that Ellington is also a bit of a stretch. Yes he's from here, and he started out his career here. But he is so much more identified with Harlem.
It just seems like they were more concerned about getting an African American on the coin rather than putting something truly representative of the city and its history (particularly its non-black history [i.e. Irish, Greek, Jewish, etc.], which, by the way, is routinely shortchanged by the DC government whenever it decides to celebrate District history).
Yeah, I figure they'll fuck this up too, just like almost everything else the District government touches.
Yeah, just like everything else the District government touches, they'll probably fuck this one up too.
How about an image of Pierre Charles L'Enfant [a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enfant_terrible"]tearing down Daniel Carroll's house?[/a]
Um, the head of the quarter already has George WASHINGTON...why not just save the change and keep the tails smooth?
i hope they go with the banneker design. that brotha doesn't get nearly enough respect.
RECOGNIZE!!!
A good design by ArtC, as drawn by a Post artist...
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2008/01/coin_contest_winnersrowhouses.html
And I also think that Ellington is also a bit of a stretch. Yes he's from here, and he started out his career here. But he is so much more identified with Harlem.
Not much different from Ohio being the "birthplce of aviation"...and just as bizarre.
Symbols work better than people on these things, it's too small of a space for detail to come through.
All the troggs who are pissing on DC now - it's not a state, you chose to live there, it's a state quarter program, yadda-yadda - can just go stuff it. I wasn't too keen on "Tw/oR" on the DC quarter, but now that the Mint has rejected it, I am kinda pissed. Absent that, I like the blank quarter idea someone suggested, and Ben's is not a bad idea either. But please, no cherry blossoms, no fed monuments, and sure as hell no ferkin' Arlington Cemetery (Virginia already had her turn).
GhettoBurbs - LOL.
All the troggs who are pissing on DC now - it's not a state, you chose to live there, it's a state quarter program, yadda-yadda - can just go stuff it. I wasn't too keen on "Tw/oR" on the DC quarter, but now that the Mint has rejected it, I am kinda pissed. Absent that, I like the blank quarter idea someone suggested, and Ben's is not a bad idea either. But please, no cherry blossoms, no fed monuments, and sure as hell no ferkin' Arlington Cemetery (Virginia already had her turn).
GhettoBurbs - LOL.