It seems as if the treasury will put anything on a coin if they think people will like it. What do they care if people like it? They are printing money, not memorabilia. Although, they have made about 3.8 billion dollars through the state quarter program. You would think that if you were designing a state quarter you would put some thought into it.
It seems like most states wants one of the following to appear on their quarter:
A) Image (15 states)
B) Historical Significance (11 states)
C) Landmark (9 states)
D) Person of Interest (10 states)
But you could also break it down like this:
A) States with a stupid bird (6)
B) States with a gay flower (6)
C) States with a fucking bison/cow/horse (8)
States with 2 of the previous 3: 4 (Kansas, Arkansas, South Carolina, Oklahoma)
3 states (North Dakota, Montana and Kansas) use the image of the Bison on their state quarters. Bison are practically extinct and almost no bison live in any of the states that use it on their coin. Wyoming whose state flag is pretty much just a bison, doesn't even use it. It shows my point that you should use something unique to your state.
State quarters are the one chance for a state to show everyone what it has to contribute to the nation. A good quarter represents your state through simplicity. It should be easy to tell what state it is from without it having to say so. Also, you should show what your state represents. That is the key to a good state quarter. Here are the best 4 and the worst 6. (There are more bad than good)
Best 4
4.
Wyoming
I like it because it is so simple and elegant. Just the outline of a cowboy riding a bucking bronco. It shows the spirit of Wyoming without cluttering the coin with a bunch of flowers or birds. Its not like Wyoming has a whole lot of stuff going in anyways.
3.
Alaska
The rugged American outback. The last wilderness. A fucking bear catching a salmon with its mouth in a raging river. That is so boss.
2.
Texas
It's simple and shows just the state and the lone star over the capitol. I like that even though they could have put so much more on their quarter, they chose to leave it without anything else. It comes off as timeless.
1.
Illinois
This is the best state coin. It incorporates an image of the state, a landmark and a person of interest, while not including a bird, flower or animal. One one side it has the outline of a barn and silo which shows Illinois commitment to farming and agriculture. On the other side of the image of the state shows the outline of downtown Chicago and the large commercial side of the state. Inlaid in the outline of Illinois is an image of a young Abraham Lincoln. It makes good use of the space and shows everything that you should think of when you think of the Land of Lincoln.
Worst 6
6.
Utah
Its quarter depicts the golden spike and the completion of the transcontinental railroad. Your state chose the completion of a cross country mode of transportation that is barely still in use today. What next? Will Arizona show the completion of Route 66 in 1926? Its almost as dumb as Florida putting the space shuttle on their quarter. In 2 years the space shuttle will be retired, so they could have put an image of a Saturn 5, which is a much more badass spacecraft.
5.
New Hampshire
Your contribution to the nation appears to be a rock face that kind of looks like an old man. It might as well be a piece of burnt toast depicting Franklin Pierce. What? Your beloved rock crumbled to the ground in 2003? So your telling me that New Hampshire should be known for a cliff face that when viewed from the right angle looked slightly like a person, and was destroyed. Gotcha.
4.
Connecticut
Your state quarter appears to show a dead tree. I guess it is supposed to be an unusually large white oak tree. You might as well have shown Gustav Whitehead on your quarter. No one, your own residents included, has any fucking idea why there is a ugly tree on your state quarter.
3
Mississippi
What could possibly be worse than a tree with no leaves? A bunch of flowers. That's all that is on the Mississippi state coin. It must be because Magnolias only grow in Mississippi. That's why it's The Magnolia State. Wait. No? MAGNOLIAS GROW EVERYWHERE! Every state is the magnolia state. There is nothing special about magnolias and Mississippi. They might as well call themselves the dandelion state.
2.
Alabama
So what has your state contributed to society. A dead, deaf, dumb, blind chick. Yes, a woman who had the courage to learn to communicate with those around her. What a fucking accomplishment. Well, I'll salute you for having the courage to not just put a picture of the confederate flag. Bravo. Ohh and what else is on your coin. A MAGNOLIA. TAKE THAT YOU MISSISSIPPI FUCKHEADS.
1.
ohio
Keeping in line with being the worst state ever, ohio managed to thoroughly piss me off. You keep having this coy game where you keep claiming shit as your own. Why is there an Astronaut on you state quarter? What does ohio have to do with space? I can think of 49 states more deserving of an astronaut on their quarter. Did ohio invent the astronaut? People from Ohio who have walked on the moon: 1. People from Texas who have walked on the moon: 3. The other image on your quarter is a picture of the first recorded flight. THAT DIDN'T OCCUR IN YOUR STATE. You have an image you clearly stole from North Carolina and put it on your state quarter. I get it, "birthplace of aviation". The logic is as follows, without ohio there would be no Wright Brothers, and without the Wright Brothers there would be no airplanes, and without airplanes there would be no space program. Space exploration is more akin to rocketry than aviation so that honor would go to Massachusetts where early rocketry tests were performed. The wright brothers were not the only ones working on the airplane (see Connecticut and Gustav Whitehead above). BUT GET THIS: Wilbur Wright wasn't even born in ohio. HA! The birthplace of aviation belongs just as much to Indiana as it does to ohio. Your license plates should really read "Half of the birthplace of aviation" So that's it. Your states' claim to fame is that one of the two guys that eventually went on to make the first airplane was born in your state well as a few of the hundreds of people that have been in space. You my friend have the worst state coin ever.
Here is what the ohio state coin should look like:
