OLYMPIA – Although the image of Bigfoot hanging from the Space Needle by his hairy arms on the Washington state quarter would make people do a double take, it isn’t going to happen.
Instead, the final three nominees feature Mount Rainier, salmon and an orca.
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“They’re beautiful, just beautiful,” Rep. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, said after the final designs were released by the U.S. Mint on Thursday.
Lovick is a member of the State Quarter Advisory Commission, which includes Mike Gregoire, husband of Gov. Christine Gregoire, and former Gov. Gary Locke’s 8-year-old daughter, Emily.
Concepts for the quarter came from residents, who submitted more than 1,100 ideas.
Mount Rainier and the salmon were the most popular symbols, and they appear on two of the final three designs.
One shows the mountain, apples and a salmon within an outline of the state. Another shows a more detailed salmon leaping from the water with an image of Mount Rainier in the background. The third is an orca styled as it appears in Northwest Coast Indian art.
Suggestions – including Bigfoot challenging King Kong on the Space Needle – were discarded in favor of larger themes that represent the state as a whole, said Mark Gerth, a spokesman for the state arts commission.
The commission even vetoed the idea of rain as a theme.
“We’re known for rain, but it’s hard to represent on a quarter,” Gerth said.
Residents will be able to offer their two bits on which of the three finalists will be minted for distribution in the spring. People will be able to vote for their favorite design in an online poll beginning in March.
The quarter commission will recommend one design to Gregoire, who will give final approval to the Mint.
Gerth said the designs were “pretty much final,” although the citizens coinage advisory committee may suggest small changes on Tuesday.
Final concepts had to meet certain criteria established by the Mint. Corporate designs such as the Starbucks or Microsoft logos were prohibited, as was a bust of state namesake George Washington, which already appears on all quarters.
The Mint began its 50 state quarters program in 1999, when it released the Delaware quarter.
Gerth said the quarter plays an important part in state history.
“It is U.S. coinage, and it will be in circulation for years, and it will be collected for hundreds of years,” he said.
Herald reporter Blythe Lawrence: 360-352-8623.
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