50 State Quarters

This year's mint set arrived, so here's my thoughts on the 2004 offerings.

Michigan: Outline of the state and great lakes with the words "Great Lakes State". Nice, simple, somewhat boring design. I don't mind the state outline coins, they are better than jumbles of images, but they don't really say much about the state. Pretty much all I get from this coin is the concept that they are proud of their lakes. Good for them.

Florida: The motto "Gateway To Discovery" serves as an ocean upon which floats a galleon headed toward a beach with palms. Overhead the Space Shuttle flies. Nice and simple. Two contrasting images, low-tech and high-tech. This is an excellent design.

Texas: "The Lone Star State" has an outline of the state with a star on it, all surrounded by a lariat as the border. The rope border bothers me for some reason. Otherwise the coin seems pretty cool. Nothing special, but at least it isn't ugly.

Iowa: "Foundation in Education" has a one-room schoolhouse, what appears to be a teacher with students planting a tree, and the name "Grant Wood". I gather that it's based on a painting by Grant Wood. It doesn't work for me. The design is nice enough, but it looks like a band across the coin, and for a coin I'm not sure it really works. It doesn't shine.

Wisconsin: The state motto "Forward" is on a banner in front of a cow, a round of cheese and an ear of corn. Ah yes. Let's go forward with the head of a cow. I hate the jumble image coins, which try to show off multiple aspects of the state. This one utterly fails, because the motto doesn't fit with the images at all. Corn, cheese and cow are taking you forward... how?

If you'd like to see what I thought about last year's selection, here's my thoughts on 2003 State Quarters. You can check images of the quarters at the US Mint website.