Governor Asks Montanans To Submit Quarter Designs 
Narratives can be mailed to:
Sarah Elliott, Governor's Office,
Montana State Capitol
Helena, MT 59620-0801
faxed to 406-444-5529 or
emailed to MontanaQuarter@mt.gov
Narratives must be received by 08/31/05.
(HELENA, 06/30/05) - Governor Brian Schweitzer today asked Montanans to submit their ideas for the Montana state quarter. He also signed an Executive Order creating the Montana Quarter Design Selection Commission. The Commission charged with making the design recommendations to the United States Mint for the Montana State Quarter for their United States Mint 50 State Quarters Program.
The state will provide to the United States Mint at least three, but no more than five, different concepts or themes emblematic of the state; each concept or theme will be in narrative format. The narrative must explain why the concept is emblematic of the state and what the concept represents to the state's citizens. A narrative that merely describes a particular design is not acceptable... (Read the rest of the release here.)
Sarah Elliott
406-444-9725
selliott@mt.gov
DESIGN CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES
from the U.S. Mint - for more information,
visit their website at www.usmint.gov
How are the designs being selected? May I submit design ideas (graphics)
for the design of the 50 States Commemorative Coin Program?
State Quarter Designs will be selected and approved by the process established by Secretary of the Treasury, in accordance with Public Law 105-124. In this process, governors will be invited to submit design concepts or themes that represent their states. We suggest you contact the office of your state governor about submitting design ideas (MontanaQuarter@mt.gov). Renderings of the various concepts will be reviewed by the United States Mint, the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, and the Commission of Fine Arts, and then sent to the Secretary of the Treasury for final review and approval. The Secretary of the Treasury will select between three and five candidate designs which will be forwarded to the state governor's office for final recommendation through a process determined by the governor. Last, the Secretary of the Treasury will give the final approval to the design for each state.
Design Criteria
The 50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act provides for designs to be submitted in accordance with the design selection and approval process developed by and in sole discretion of the Treasury Secretary. Because it is important that the Nation's coinage and currency bear dignified designs of which the citizens of the United States can be proud, the Act further requires that the Secretary shall not select any frivolous or inappropriate design and no head-and-shoulders portrait or bust of any person, living or dead, and no portrait of a living person may be included in the design.
Guidelines
- Designs shall maintain a dignity befitting the Nation's coinage.
- Designs shall have broad appeal to the citizens of the state and avoid controversial subjects or symbols that are likely to offend.
- Suitable subject matter for designs include state landmarks (natural and man-made), landscapes, historically significant buildings, symbols of state resources or industries, official state flora and fauna, state icons (e.g.. Texas Lone Star, Wyoming bronco, etc.), and outlines of the state.
- State flags and state seals are not considered suitable for designs.
- Consistent with the authorizing legislation, the states are encouraged to submit designs that promote the diffusion of knowledge among the youth of the United States about the state, its history and geography, and the rich diversity of our national heritage.
- Priority consideration will be given to designs that are enduring representations of the state. Coins have a commercial life span of at least 30 years and are collected for generations.
- Inappropriate design concepts include, but are not limited to logos or depictions of specific commercial, private, educational, civic, religious, sports, or other organizations whose membership or ownership is not universal.
Click here to learn more about the Evaluation process. (link will open in a new window)
