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Design Panels Agree on Two Selections
By Numismatic News The
Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee was two for
five when it came to agreeing on designs for
“America the Beautiful” quarters for 2011
selected a week earlier by the Commission of
Fine Arts.
Design No. 1 for Olympic National Park in
Washington and design No. 3 for Glacier National
Park in Montana received unanimous support from
committee members when they met Jan. 26. Those
designs were also chosen earlier by the CFA.
CCAC Chairman Mitch Sanders said member Gary
Marks spoke passionately in favor of the
selected design, and members felt that it
captured the majesty of the park. They
appreciated the inclusion of the mountain goat.
The combination of wildlife and scenery brought
unanimous support for the Olympic National Park
design, Sanders said.
About half of the three-hour meeting was devoted
to discussion of the design for the Gettysburg
National Military Park in Pennsylvania, he said.
Roger Burdette, and several other members,
expressed a preference for alternative designs
that were more evocative of the Battle of
Gettysburg and its meaning, rather than
depictions of the park itself, Sanders said.
The committee gave design No. 1 only 12 out of a
possible 30 points.
“The relatively low point total for the
committee’s preferred design is indicative of
this division of opinion,” Sanders said.
After making its selection, the committee voted
7 to 2 to encourage the Mint to consider
soliciting new designs of a more symbolic nature
for this coin, he said.
The depiction of the U.S.S. Cairo on design No.
2 for the Vicksburg National Park in Mississippi
got the committee’s nod with 27 of 30 points.
Sanders said members liked how it reflected the
importance of what historian John Alexander
referred to as the “Brown Water Navy” during the
Civil War. However, many members were drawn to
the quality of the imagery in design No. 1, he
said.
The CCAC gave 19 of 30 points to design No. 1
for Chickasaw National Park in Oklahoma. Members
were intrigued by the perspective of the design
with the leaves in the foreground, Sanders said,
but some members were concerned that the human
figure would be indistinct on the actual coin.
Following the design presentations, John
Mercanti talked to the committee about die
production.
The next CCAC meetings is tentatively scheduled
for Feb. 23 at Mint headquarters in Washington,
D.C. |