OLYMPIA – No Bill Gates, Bigfoot, slugs or steaming lattes, but other familiar Washington images have been proposed to grace a new quarter coin honoring the state.
Gov. Christine Gregoire and an advisory commission headed by her husband, Mike, have forwarded five ideas to the U.S. Mint:
* A salmon, Mount Rainier and an apple within an outline of Washington state.
* An apple inside the map silhouette.
* An outline of the state with Mount Rainier centered inside.
* A salmon breaching the water with Mount Rainier as a backdrop.
* An American Indian-style killer whale.
The committee also suggested including the script “The Evergreen State” in some of the designs.
The Mint will design multiple renderings of all five nominations by December, possibly 25 or 30 altogether, said Mark Gerth, spokesman for the state Arts Commission. After consultation with the Washington committee, the Mint will then develop three to five final design choices. The state committee will then post the finalists on a Web site next April, so people can vote on their favorite.
The winning design will be announced in May, and the coins, part of the 50-state series, will be available in March 2007.
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