BOISE, Idaho – The five potential faces of a future Idaho quarter are a peregrine falcon, the Sawtooth Mountains, a patchwork of plowed fields, the lyrics to the state song or simply the word “Idaho” written boldly across the coin.
Those were the winning concepts Gov. Dirk Kempthorne sent to artists at the U.S. Mint on Friday as part of the final selection process for a design to grace the state’s 2007 contribution to the 50 State Quarters Program.
The five descriptions – the Mint refused to accept drawings – were chosen by the governor from a list of 10 semifinalists selected by a panel of community leaders, artists and historians organized by the Idaho Commission of the Arts after reviewing more than 1,200 submissions from Idaho residents and at least one soldier stationed in Iraq.
Artists at the Mint will now create sketches of coin designs based on the five descriptions and send those back to Kempthorne in December for suggested alterations. The governor will select the preferred image to represent the state quarter, but final approval rests with the Mint.
Noticeably absent from the list was the ubiquitous Idaho potato, apparently a victim of its own fame.
“It was important to the governor and the committee that the design be representative of the entire state,” Kempthorne spokesman Mike Journee said.
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