Another Ho-Hum State Quarter...

[TJ]

Kinda looks like an Uncle Remus and Mr. BlueBird cartoon.

[gmarguli]

That's awful. Why not use the California Bear which is an awesome design? Any of the other top designs were better than this.

[JamminJ]

At least it's not the Hollywood sign or a state outline surrounded by a bunch of junk.

 

-JamminJ

[TJ]

Half Dome there reminds me of the Old Man in the N.H. Mountain pile of dung.

 

Even the GG Bridge would be better than this zippity-do-dah.

[Hoot]

I think that the design will be lost on most people, as is evident from the comments so far. Few people will recognize Muir or the California Condor, let alone Half Dome. These are all excellent representations of a California natural-history heritage and something for Californian's to be proud of, for sure. However, I have to agree that it is a design lost upon most. The California Condor alone would have been a great design, perhaps with its unusual head peering over the back of a grizzly bear. I dunno. (As it is, I don't think most will recognize the bird as a condor and will probably confuse it with a hawk.) The best thing to do is try to get newbies to understand what the design represents, as is the case for most of the state quarters' designs.

 

Hoot

[TJ]

I think that the design will be lost on most people, as is evident from the comments so far. Few people will recognize Muir or the California Condor, let alone Half Dome. These are all excellent representations of a California natural-history heritage and something for Californian's to be proud of, for sure. However, I have to agree that it is a design lost upon most. The California Condor alone would have been a great design, perhaps with its unusual head peering over the back of a grizzly bear. I dunno. The best thing to do is try to get newbies to understand what the design represents, as is the case for most of the state quarters' designs.

 

Hoot

Understanding what the design means on a coin, to me, is a distant second to the actual eye appeal of the design itself, understood or not. This, and most other state quarters so far, look like Jr. High poster board projects. OK, stick condor here, paste John Muir here pointing to a big ol' Half Dome here, PLOP. There.

[jom]

I think you people are nuts. That is a GREAT design.

 

The added attraction is that it doesn't reference either the Gay Bay (Golden Gate) OR Hollyweird (the "sign").

 

I'm happy as hell...

 

jom

[Hoot]

I think you people are nuts. That is a GREAT design.

 

The added attraction is that it doesn't reference either the Gay Bay (Golden Gate) OR Hollyweird (the "sign").

 

I'm happy as hell...

 

jom

 

I'm also happy that they did not do the Golden Gate design (would have been a distant second to the Bay Bridge design anyhow) or the Hollywood crapola. Again, I don't mind the design except that the components are not well recognized nationally. But this is true for most of the designs. I can't agree at all that the meaning of a design takes a distant second to the art. I think that they should go hand-in-hand, complementing one another. That's the biggest challenge: aesthetic/artistic designs with meaning befitting national recognition.

 

Hoot

[Hoot]

One thing they could do to improve the currrent choice is move Muir back about a foot and make the Condor more recognizable.

 

Hoot

[Hoot]

Here's a good article on the subject:

 

Governor picks state quarter

 

Hoot

[jom]

That's the biggest challenge: aesthetic/artistic designs with meaning befitting national recognition.

 

Then again, it IS a STATE quarter.

 

Again, I'm happy that they went with Yosemite instead of the standard [!@#%^&^].

 

Odd that they used a Condor. I thought the State Bird was the Quail...

 

jom

[TomB]

The design is by Garrett Burke. He came up to me at the ANA in Baltimore and introduced himself and asked if he could join me for lunch. We had lunch together and he gave me a small pamphlet about the symbolism in his design and why he chose it. It also had the images of the other finalists. The image of his quarter does not have a condor on it, especially a condor that looks rabid and is about to take a nasty piece out of John Muir's face. Anyway, we talked a bit and he signed his artwork-

 

"Greetings Tom,

Muir power to you

Garrett"

 

He also included his cell phone number should I want to talk about coins. His wife is a coin collector, he is not interested much in coins. They were at the ANA so she could add coins to her collection. The reference to Muir was because I knew who it was without having a name next to him.

 

He seemed like a genuinely nice person.

[truthteller]

I like the design very much. Reminiscent of the commem designs of the 1930's. The condor looks a bit too large on the coin, but otherwise a very nice encapsulation of what CA is all about.

 

 

TRUTH

[TJ]

I can't agree at all that the meaning of a design takes a distant second to the art. I think that they should go hand-in-hand, complementing one another. That's the biggest challenge: aesthetic/artistic designs with meaning befitting national recognition.

 

Hoot

Case in point, the "Mercury" dime. Everyone thinks it is the messenger Mercury, when in fact we know it is the Winged Liberty. The Wings are symbolic. Does the vast majority know of what? No. The vast majority thinks it's a picture of Mercury. I did for years. BUT YET, it's a beautiful face so the meaning places a distant second in my book.

 

I've given up hope that anything that comes out of the Mint will look good. Perhaps if Kerry is president he would appoint a director with some taste.

 

EDIT P.S. Very interesting post, TomB. But I think your new friend Burke is of the Jr. High Posterboard design ilk.

[JamminJ]

I think you people are nuts. That is a GREAT design.

 

Jom sold out.

 

-JamminJ

[jtryka]

Another bad state quarter design, there's a shock. I do find it surprising that the people of California would approve a design depicting John Muir being attacked by an endangered condor...

[CarlWohlforth]

That design works for me. Yosemite was one of the first places I visited after I moved to California. I was, and still am, awed by the place. Sure it could be improved but it is better than some of the alternatives. Bears might be nice. They are on the California commem. However if you see a bear you are probably in Yosemite

[EZ_E]

Personally, I favored the neo-surfer wave design, dudes.

 

It was a clear departure from the themes to date and could have set an artistic precedence for future issues.

 

I am a firm believer that in reference to coin design: Less is More.