Just Got District of Columbia Quarter

I just got my first District of Columbia Quarter in my change yesterday. I was surprised but disappointed. I was unaware that it was permitted to honor an individual, Duke Ellington, on a state or territory quarter. I was hoping for the quarter to show the Tidal Basin by the Jefferson Memorial showing blooming blossoms with the Washington Monument in the background. The design is very disappointing.

 

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It's a Jazz thing Myron. If you love Jazz you'll love the coin....

 

I was both surprised and dissappointed by your post. Duke Ellington made a tremendous contribution to music in the United States and I think he was well deserving of being featured to represent the District of Columbia on the quarter.

Washington is more than just monuments to dead presidents and blooming blossoms, it's also home to living breathing individuals.

Why do you think it would only be permitted to honor individuals on state quarters and not on territory quarters? Are territories insignificant, in your opinion, because they are "only" territories? Do the citizens of territories mean any less to society that those living in a state?

Thankfully your hopes where not realized and instead of iconic cliches (I mean how much money does Washington or Jefferson really need to be on?), we honor one who is more often overlooked.

 

Duke Ellingtons' okay, but honestly, there are only so many jazz enthusiasts out there. I've thought Frederick Douglass would've been cooler on that coin.

 

Going back over the state quarters, there have been a whole bunch of mediocre/lousy designs. People have forgotten that the series isn't actually over. Anyone seen puerto rico?

 

I think there are several of the State 25c that just really suck. Saying that I am disappointed in putting presidents on coins it just makes them ugly. I like the SLQ much better. Ice

 

DC Quarter

My words were misread. I never said it's OK to honor an individual on state quarters, either. Now when I think about it Helen Keller was honored on the Alabama State Quarter. I also felt that it was out-of-place. However I believe it's OK to issue special commems honoring great Americans like Ellington, Fitzgerald, Berlin, Keller, Robinson, etc. but the state/territory quarters is not the right place. Evidently, the US Mint disagrees.

 

I would agree that there are some pretty dull ones (Montana, anyone?).

Some that I really like: North Dakota, Connecticut (my favorite), Colorado.

There was actually a story buzzing in Colorado for some time that the mountain that inspired the Colorado coin is in Wyoming. Not sure if that's true. They should have used the Marroon Bells for the Colorado coin though. It would have been perfect, and so conducive to that kind of display.

I haven't seen the DC quarter yet, but I'm kind of ho hum on the idea of Duke Ellington on there. To me, that's something that's better suited to a silver commemorative. State quarters should feature themes that have more universalist appeal.

 

I agree that it was not a good choice. And I don't mean in any way that D.C. is less important than a state. But I know if my state was represented by one musician, I wouldn't be happy with it. The design is not bad though. I got my first one Saturday at the post office, and my second one yesterday at the bank. Both D-mints of course.

 

The Duke, though, was born and raised in DC, while Douglass was born in Md.

But I hear the point, that any coin that has a figure on it (other than a figure that represents the entire US) is going to have limited appeal. DC's problem, however, is: what is famous in DC that's not already on a coin? Further, why should DC honor, say, the Capitol, when they don't even have a representative in Congress? Most of the other monuments are to a person that's too "national" to represent DC (besides, most monuments to persons are of persons already on coins). All that said, a nice pic of the National Mall (with cherry blossoms) might have been nice.

Interesting discussion . . .

(And, yeah, I agree, many of the state quarters have the most blandest designs . . . )

Trivia: Is Duke Ellington the first black person to grace a circulating coin? (I'm guessing yes, but I don't know)

 

You got Keller right but you forgot to mention Caesar Rodney - Delaware quarter; Grant Wood - Iowa Quarter and more abstractly, the Wright brothers on North Carolina and Ohio, John Glenn - Ohio and Lewis & Clark on Missouri.

I'm afraid not only the US Mint disagrees with you but thankfully so do many coin designers across the United States and the good folks of these states who voted for these designs.

 

The people haven't forgotten but it looks like you have. The state quarters program end last year. It is over.

Puerto Rico and DC are part of the Territory quarters program which is a totally different series. They may look like state quarters in many ways but unfortunately ...they aren't states so they didn't qualify for the previous program.

 

I'm just going to toss this into the bowl why don't we change some of the obverses of our coins? Ice

 

It would allow Congress to place American Idol winners on the coins.

 

I dunno, I think there's a lot of cool material in DC that hasn't been explored by coins. How about the Washington Monument on a hill, framed by cherry tree branches on the sides?

 

The state quarter and territories laws forbid picturing a bust of an individual.

On a US coin, yes. But there was going to be a black person on the coin no matter which design they chose. All three proposed designs had a black man on them. That may have been for local sensibilities as well since DC is 80% black.

Wouldn't that be a little strange considering the monument is NOT on a hill?

 

I would recommend listening to Duke Ellington's "Money Jungle." Great CD by a genius of music - you might get to like the quarter after all.

 

It's not on a hill per se, but there are lower elevations around it. What I am really referring to is playing with perspective a little bit to augment it's prominence:

http://www.welcometothepond.com/American%20Symbols%20WebQuest/WashingtonMonument-001.jpg

 

It could be argued that this gentleman was even though it is non-circulating.....

http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/commemoratives/jackie/

 

me too. but it was a circulated one. i should said a AU condition or higher.