Gov. Bill Owens is expected to make an announcement today that will affect Americans’ pocketbooks for decades – the design of the new Colorado quarter.
The governor acknowledged last week that he had narrowed the five-quarter field, but the veteran politician was careful not to tip his hand.
For today’s ceremony, staffers had two posters printed, because Owens had not chosen between two designs by late last week.
The announcement, Owens suggested, could be similar to picking a new pope.
“We’re going to do it by white puffs of smoke off the top of the Capitol smokestack,” he joked.
Other governors have delegated the decision, but not Owens.
“This is something I wanted to do. I ran for governor, I got elected and, by God, I’m going to get to pick a quarter,” he said.
“For the rest of my life … I’ll be able to say, ‘Did you know I picked this quarter, back when I was …’ They’re going to say, ‘Listen, Gramps, put your head back down and go back to sleep.”‘
The five designs Owens has to choose from were narrowed by a commission headed by his wife, Frances, from a field of more than 1,500 submissions.
While he refused to give any hints as to his choice, Owens said the coin won’t be crowded with images like Minnesota’s.
He ripped on the design chosen by his “good buddy” Gov. Tim Pawlenty. “It has like eight different things,” Owens said. “It has canoes, and it has lakes; it has like big mosquitoes.”
The five finalists for the Colorado quarter
Mesa Verde
Includes a rendering of the ancient Cliff Palace dwelling at Mesa Verde National Park.
Centennial State
The peaks resemble the Maroon Bells near Aspen. Also featured are a columbine flower and the phrase “The Centennial State.”
Pikes Peak
Of the five designs, only this one depicts an actual Colorado mountain – the 14,110-foot peak above Colorado Springs.
Colorful Colorado
A Colorado mountain scene as imagined by artists with the U.S. Mint.
10th Mountain Division
Shows a skiing soldier to commemorate the Army division, which trained in Colorado during World War II and fought in Europe.
