Coin to roll into Rushmore
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By Dan Daly, Journal Staff Writer
MOUNT RUSHMORE — There will be speeches and music, but the star of the Monday, Nov. 13, ceremony will be the shiny new coin making its first public appearance.
The South Dakota commemorative quarter, the 40th coin in the series honoring all 50 states, will make its debut that day at Mount Rushmore National Memorial.
The event starts at 10 a.m. in the Mount Rushmore Amphitheater. It is open to the public. With a seating capacity of 3,000, there should be no trouble finding a place to sit, said Judy Olson, chief of interpretation at Mount Rushmore.
Edmund C. Moy, director of the U.S. Mint, is expected to attend the event. Gov. Mike Rounds and first lady Jean Rounds will be there, too.
Rapid City Mayor Jim Shaw will serve as master of ceremonies, and Mount Rushmore superintendent Gerard Baker will speak. Also, members of the Black Hills Coin and Stamp Club will attend.
Arrangements for musical entertainment are pending, Olson said. An American Indian drum group is scheduled to perform, and another band will likely be booked.
The South Dakota commemorative quarter, engraved by John Mercanti, features an unlikely scene of a pheasant flying over Mount Rushmore National Memorial. The Chinese ring-necked pheasant is the state bird, and Mount Rushmore is the state’s most recognizable image.
The design was chosen in statewide voting at banks and on the Internet. About 170,000 votes were cast, according to Mark Johnston, spokesman for Gov. Mike Rounds.
Those who can’t make it to Mount Rushmore on Nov. 13 can find the new coins at Great Western Bank locations throughout the state beginning the week of Nov. 13. Great Western has been selected to serve as the South Dakota launch bank for the newest addition to the 50 State Quarter Program.
All Great Western Bank locations will have the new quarters available to the public that week, about a week before other banks will likely take delivery, bank officials said.
“It is a privilege for Great Western Bank to participate in this momentous event,” Jeff Erickson, president and chief executive officer of Great Western Bank, said.
The commemorative-quarter initiative is a 10-year program to release 25-cent coins honoring each of the 50 states in the order that they joined the union. South Dakota became the 40th state on Nov. 2, 1889.
On the day of the event, the Mount Rushmore History Association will be selling commemorative packages featuring two uncirculated South Dakota quarters. The history association, an arm of the Mount Rushmore Memorial Society, raises funds for interpretive and educational programs at the memorial.
Also, Great Western Bank will provide a quarter exchange where the public will be able to buy a $10 roll of newly minted South Dakota state quarters.
Great Western Bank will also distribute 1,000 vouchers to Mount Rushmore attendees. They can take the vouchers to the bank’s St. Joseph Street office in Rapid City and redeem them for commemorative South Dakota quarter sets.
The sets, which are free, are mounted on a card featuring the South Dakota flag.
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