State Quarters - The Best and Worst

I was putting the last of the state quarters (Alaska and Hawai'i) into my album and not surprisingly had the urge to pick out the best and worst.

I decided to pick my top 5 and bottom 5.
I waited until now so that I could compare all the coins; drawings are nice, but the real thing is what it's all about.
Criteria:
- Design appeal
- Historical significance

Here's what I came up with and why:

TOP 5
Connecticut - simple and appealing design; great historical symbol
Texas - simple and elegant design; another great historical symbol
Virginia - design straight to the point; great historical event
Nebraska - again the design simple and to the point; historically important feature
Oregon - appealing design; not historically important but representative of the whole coastal geology

BOTTOM 5
Maryland - the state capital dome?; most states have one (unfortunately this is my home state)
Indiana - an Indy car?; is that all they want to be known for?
Tennessee - music is certainly important but is that all there is to the state
Michigan - state outline, and that's it?; nothing else to celebrate there?
Nevada - horses?; there's a number of things I associate with this state but horses isn't one of them

Other opinions more than welcome.

 

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Nice lists. Theres a couple of things things I'll point out. The Oregon coin isn't depicting the coast at all, but rather a lake...Crater Lake. Second, Nevada has the highest wild horse population in the US. Just some thoughts.
Guy~

 

I thought the Alaska design was pretty cool.

 

True about the Oregon coin, but I was thinking more about the chain of volcanoes up and down the coast.

Didn't know that about Nevada.
I would have thought it was too hot and dry.
So I DID learn something from their design.

 

Maybe, but the reasons you give for they're being on your list I think are still valid. Sometimes the design just doesn't do it for us, whether it's the elements they contain or how cluttered or simplified they are. You got me thinking. I might have to go through and see what my lists might look like. I'm in agreement with the Connecticut coin. It's simple and for some reason really appeals to me.
Guy~

 

What did you expect, prostitutes and poker chips?

 

Best 5:
Conn.
Virg.
Miss.
Tex.
Color.

Worst 5:
Tenn.
Ohio
Ark.
S. Car.
Wisc.

The best designs were often the most simple (and large), while the worst were often too cluttered.

 

Yep, you got that right.

 

I read somewhere that the error Wisconsin quarter is not actually an error, but rather an inside job. There were actually tool marks visible on a few of the "extra leaf" quarters. Is there any more info out there about these?

 

I read something like that in a Coin World magazine, cant remeber which one though sorry

 

I like
Colorado
Arizona
New Mexico
Alaska
Hawaii

 

I have to agree with coleguy. The Connecticut quarter is not overdone like many of them. It is just a great design done with simplicity.Nebraska and North Dakota get a hats off from me also.

 

Nevada
Ohio
Oklahoma
Delaware
Kansas
Idaho
and NY


Worst?

Wi
Iowa
SC
Texas
NH
Georga

 

These 2 stand out on the Wiki page to me





Wiki pics of all 50
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_State_Quarters

 

I have the set on display above my computer and for the top 5 I have to say I like:

New Jersey
Arizona
South Dakota
Minnesota
Oregon

Some states were probably much easier to come up with designs for than others. Such as South Dakota's design would likely have been easier to come up with than say something for Kansas.

I think they left a lot on the table with the Pennsylvania design. Michigan and Texas could have been more creative as well.

Illinois did our standard template for everything. (Which may be appropriate but not all that creative.) An image of Lincoln, an outline of the state with a farm on one side and Chicago on the other. I could have told you that was going to be the design five years in advance.

 

I think that Wyoming is almost too simple for me. I just dont like it very much

 

virginia is the best. no wonder the mintage is the largest.

 

JMO

Best- Nebraska...
Worst- New Hampshire....

 

I really like the WV design.

 

i like texas and alaska too.