Hobbies And Interests
History
The United States Constitution states in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 5, "The Congress shall have Power To coin Money..." In 1782, the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia produced coins with the help of harnessed horses, metal furnaces and men feeding flattened metal disks into a machine that stamped the faces of the coins. The U.S. Mint's facilities in Philadelphia and Denver can produce 28 billion coins per year.
Time Frame and Volume
The 50 State Quarters Program began in 1999 and lasted until 2008. The state quarters were produced in the order in which each state ratified the Constitution or joined the Union. As the 48th state of the Union, Arizona's quarter became available on June 2, 2008.
According to the State Quarter Guide, 244,600,000 Arizona quarters were minted at the Philadelphia facility and 265,000,000 were minted at the Denver facility. Additionally, more than 3,000,000 proof and silver proof Arizona quarters were produced at the San Francisco facility.
Designers
The obverse, or heads, side of the 50 States quarter was designed by John Flanagan and later modified by William Cousins. The reverse, or tails, side of the Arizona quarter was designed by Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Joseph Menna. Joel Iskowitz is a U.S. Air Force artist whose works are displayed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Museum, the Pentagon and the Historical Society of Caranten in Brévands, France. Iskowitz's awards include bronze and silver medals in international competitions and the National Oceanic and Philatellic Society citation. The Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., will permanently display Iskowitz's 2010 Design for the Women Airforce Service Pilots Congressional Gold Medal.
Features
In order to accommodate the unique state designs, the inscriptions "United States of America" and "Quarter Dollar" were added to the obverse (heads) side of the coin, joining "Liberty" and "In God We Trust." The mint date of "2008" was moved to the reverse side of the coin.
The reverse (tails) of the Arizona quarter features the Grand Canyon in the background, a banner with Arizona's motto ("Grand Canyon State") and a saguaro cactus in the foreground. The reverse side of the Arizona quarter coin also includes "Arizona" and "1912," signifying that Arizona joined the U.S. on February 14, 1912.
Significance
The Grand Canyon, the saguaro cactus and the banner separating them each have a significance. The Grand Canyon is significant to Arizonans because it is among the Seven Wonders of the World. It is located in northern Arizona and has been a National Park since 1919. The canyon is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and an average of one mile deep. The Grand Canyon is being formed by the Colorado River and has taken three to six million years to form its current state.
The saguaro cactus is a part of Arizonan's lives if they live in the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern portion of the state. The saguaro's flower is the state flower of Arizona. These majestic cacti grow to be 200 years old, can reach heights of 30 feet and have an average of five large arms.
The banner separating the images of the Grand Canyon and the saguaro on the reverse of the Arizona quarter is meant to signify that the saguaro does not grow in the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is in the very northern portion of the state, while the saguaro cactus grows in the south.
Proposed Designs
Of the 4,200 submissions for the Arizona quarter design, only one was chosen by the 112,000 Arizonans who voted. Some of the designs that were proposed but did not win included other things associated with Arizona. These proposed designs included Navajo code talkers from WWII, a longhorn skull, desert creatures such as the scorpion and rattlesnake, the San Javier Mission in Tucson, an egg frying on a sidewalk and the fictitious jackalope.