Friday, January 20, 2006
The Utah Quarter
I may have named my daughter Virginia, but I'm still a Utahn at heart. That's why I'm very interested in the announcement today of the three finalists for the design of the official Utah state quarter. Apparently the governor has the final say (Who made THAT rule? Did he make any campaign promises related to the state quarter design when he ran two years ago?) but I want to put in my two cents on the quarter.
Here are the designs, a snowboarder, a beehive, and the meeting of the trains at Promontory Point:
These aren't exactly what I had expected. When I first learned that the Mint was making a new quarter for every state, I immediately began thinking about what Utah's quarter would look like.
I wanted Brigham Young to be on it. I still do. I think Brigham Young encapsulates Utah's culture and history more than any other symbol, he's historical, and I think there would be a bit of satisfying irony to have ol' BY depicted on U.S. currency, after he led his people out of the U.S. and into what was then Mexico, and when he talked so often (especially during the Civil War) of how the USA is just a placeholder government till the Lord can take over. But Brigham Young is too much of a religious figure, I suppose (even though he's singlehandedly responsible for colonizing large portions of the West). So I knew that wasn't going to happen.
So obviously I assumed that the winning design would feature Delicate Arch. It's Utah's tourism symbol, and I've noticed that a lot of these quarters play up things that will inspire out-of-staters to come visit. It's the pinnacle of our famed natural beauty, and would fit in with a lot of other quarters that feature geological formations or natural wonders. I am most surprised that Delicate Arch didn't make it (though I see that it was a strong candidate).
The three finalists are all very different from one another. The Beehive is just a symbol, the trains represent history, and the snowboarder promotes tourism.
I'm going to have to go with the Promontory trains.
The first and easiest design to eliminate is the snowboarder. First of all, it's a little silly and irreverent to be sticking something like that on money. Second, the quarter will come out many years too late. If this quarter were to be released in early 2002, I would perhaps support it. But the Salt Lake Winter Olympics will have been over for almost six years by the time this quarter comes out in late 2007. "The World Is Welcome"? More like "We Welcomed the World Six Years Ago, But Then the World Went Away and Forgot About Us." Nice thought, but no. And lastly but not leastly, not all that many Utahns snowboard. It's even rarer than skiing. It doesn't represent all of Utah very well.
I like the beehive because it's a symbol of Deseret, the state Utah wanted to be, and again, it has a nice irony sitting there on U.S. currency under the name the early pioneers hated: "Utah." They wanted their state to be called Deseret, and they wanted to run it their way (read: theocracy), but the federal government stamped them into the ground, oppressed them, delayed their statehood for about 40 years, and finally gave them Utah. The beehive is, to me, a symbol of the early Mormons' defiance of the federal government, and so I think it's cool to stick it on federal money. But the problem is that it's artistically boring, and doesn't really tell an outsider (the majority of the people who will be spending these things) anything about the state.
So I support the trains. I like it because it's an important moment in history (it's been called the 19th-century equivalent of man walking on the moon) that all Utahns take pride in, even if they don't show it so much (I've only been to Promontory Point on a field trip in elementary school, and I bet most Utahns would say the same). Everyone in the US at least vaguely knows about it, but they likely don't know exactly where it happened. It's kind of like the Alabama quarter. I knew about Helen Keller, but it wasn't till the quarter came out that I knew she was from Alabama. So now my money has educated me. We shouldn't go as far down that road as Delaware and California, though, who have featured Ceasar Rodney and John Muir, respectively--people neither you nor I have ever heard of. But the Golden Spike is something Utahns can all take pride in and the rest of the country can relate to and understand.
Was Brigham Young present at the driving of the spike? If he was, maybe I can be satisfied by pretending that he's on the quarter in spirit.
Here are the designs, a snowboarder, a beehive, and the meeting of the trains at Promontory Point:
These aren't exactly what I had expected. When I first learned that the Mint was making a new quarter for every state, I immediately began thinking about what Utah's quarter would look like.
I wanted Brigham Young to be on it. I still do. I think Brigham Young encapsulates Utah's culture and history more than any other symbol, he's historical, and I think there would be a bit of satisfying irony to have ol' BY depicted on U.S. currency, after he led his people out of the U.S. and into what was then Mexico, and when he talked so often (especially during the Civil War) of how the USA is just a placeholder government till the Lord can take over. But Brigham Young is too much of a religious figure, I suppose (even though he's singlehandedly responsible for colonizing large portions of the West). So I knew that wasn't going to happen.
So obviously I assumed that the winning design would feature Delicate Arch. It's Utah's tourism symbol, and I've noticed that a lot of these quarters play up things that will inspire out-of-staters to come visit. It's the pinnacle of our famed natural beauty, and would fit in with a lot of other quarters that feature geological formations or natural wonders. I am most surprised that Delicate Arch didn't make it (though I see that it was a strong candidate).
The three finalists are all very different from one another. The Beehive is just a symbol, the trains represent history, and the snowboarder promotes tourism.
I'm going to have to go with the Promontory trains.
The first and easiest design to eliminate is the snowboarder. First of all, it's a little silly and irreverent to be sticking something like that on money. Second, the quarter will come out many years too late. If this quarter were to be released in early 2002, I would perhaps support it. But the Salt Lake Winter Olympics will have been over for almost six years by the time this quarter comes out in late 2007. "The World Is Welcome"? More like "We Welcomed the World Six Years Ago, But Then the World Went Away and Forgot About Us." Nice thought, but no. And lastly but not leastly, not all that many Utahns snowboard. It's even rarer than skiing. It doesn't represent all of Utah very well.
I like the beehive because it's a symbol of Deseret, the state Utah wanted to be, and again, it has a nice irony sitting there on U.S. currency under the name the early pioneers hated: "Utah." They wanted their state to be called Deseret, and they wanted to run it their way (read: theocracy), but the federal government stamped them into the ground, oppressed them, delayed their statehood for about 40 years, and finally gave them Utah. The beehive is, to me, a symbol of the early Mormons' defiance of the federal government, and so I think it's cool to stick it on federal money. But the problem is that it's artistically boring, and doesn't really tell an outsider (the majority of the people who will be spending these things) anything about the state.
So I support the trains. I like it because it's an important moment in history (it's been called the 19th-century equivalent of man walking on the moon) that all Utahns take pride in, even if they don't show it so much (I've only been to Promontory Point on a field trip in elementary school, and I bet most Utahns would say the same). Everyone in the US at least vaguely knows about it, but they likely don't know exactly where it happened. It's kind of like the Alabama quarter. I knew about Helen Keller, but it wasn't till the quarter came out that I knew she was from Alabama. So now my money has educated me. We shouldn't go as far down that road as Delaware and California, though, who have featured Ceasar Rodney and John Muir, respectively--people neither you nor I have ever heard of. But the Golden Spike is something Utahns can all take pride in and the rest of the country can relate to and understand.
Was Brigham Young present at the driving of the spike? If he was, maybe I can be satisfied by pretending that he's on the quarter in spirit.
Comments:
Since my son starting collecting the quarters, I now see them through the eyes of a kid. For that reason I think the trains are cool -- lots of kids will think the trains make Utah the coolest coin in the lot.
I like the beehive, only because it's pretty and a large, single symbol (good for coins, which have a relatively small surface area on which to place your message.) But anything's better than a snowboarder.
Also, I loved the Ceasar Rodney quarter. But then again, 1776 is my favorite musical.
Also, I loved the Ceasar Rodney quarter. But then again, 1776 is my favorite musical.
Yes, the temple would be banned by the religious symbols rule (one thinks that such a rule was only implemented to make sure the temple or the Angel Moroni would be kept off the Utah quarter--what other state would try to put a religious symbol on their quarter?)
But I disagree that Brigham Young qualifies as a religious symbol. Yes, he was an important religious leader, but he was also an important historical figure. He led the colonization of Utah and many surrounding areas. He was Utah Territory's first governor. He designed our cities and oversaw the founding of both of the state's major universities. There are a lot of secular reasons to put Brother Brigham on the quarter, and it seems wrong to me to disqualify him for the simple reason that he was a religious leader as well.
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But I disagree that Brigham Young qualifies as a religious symbol. Yes, he was an important religious leader, but he was also an important historical figure. He led the colonization of Utah and many surrounding areas. He was Utah Territory's first governor. He designed our cities and oversaw the founding of both of the state's major universities. There are a lot of secular reasons to put Brother Brigham on the quarter, and it seems wrong to me to disqualify him for the simple reason that he was a religious leader as well.
