Denver – A generic mountain backdrop with evergreens and the caption “Colorful Colorado” will grace the quarter representing the state, Gov. Bill Owens announced today.
He unveiled his choice from among five designs during a news conference on the Capitol steps. First Lady Frances Owens headed the Colorado Commemorative Quarter Advisory Commission, which announced the five finalists in March.
“It is difficult to condense the heritage and beauty of a 104,000-square-mile state into something the size of a quarter,” Owens said.
All five designs were worthy of being minted, he added.
The other images included mountains reminiscent of the Maroon Bells near Aspen; Pikes Peak near Colorado Springs; the Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde National Park; and a 10th Mountain Division skier racing down a mountain, representing the group of skier-soldiers who trained in the mountains of Colorado to fight in World War II.
Colorado’s quarter will be the 38th quarter issued as part of the Fifty States Commemorative Coin Program Act passed by Congress in 1997. The quarters are being issued in the order in which the states joined the union.
Colorado joined in 1876 when the United States celebrated its centennial anniversary.
The state’s coin will be minted at year’s end, with the first strike taking place at the Denver Mint. The quarter will go into circulation the middle of next year.
