HAWAI‘I COMMEMORATIVE QUARTER DESIGN SELECTED
For Immediate Release: April 23, 2007
HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle announced today that she has selected “Hawai‘i, the Island State” (design #4) as the design for Hawai‘i’s commemorative quarter.
The Governor made her selection based on recommendations from the Hawai‘i Commemorative Quarter Advisory Commission, which met earlier in the day to review the results of a public on-line poll conducted earlier this month. Taking into consideration the results of the poll, the commission submitted three recommended designs to the Governor, who made her final selection. The design selected by the Governor also received the highest number of votes (7,262 or 28 percent of all votes received) from the public.
The final design depicts the King Kamehameha I statue on the right side of the coin, with his hand stretching toward the eight main Hawaiian islands. The State motto, “Ua mau ke ea o ka ‘āina i ka pono,” (The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness) is in the lower left side of the coin. At the top of the coin are the words “Hawai‘i” and the year “1959,” when Hawai‘i was admitted to the Union. “E Pluribus Unum” (Out of the many, one) is at the bottom.
The design will be submitted to the U.S. Mint. Hawai‘i’s Commemorative Quarter is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2008 and will be produced for 10 weeks.
“I would like to thank the commission and the public for participating in this extensive process to develop, discuss and select designs that are emblematic of our islands and our people,” said Governor Lingle. “I am honored to be able to submit a design that emphasizes our proud history, unique geography, diversity and host culture.”
The quarter design selected to represent Hawai‘i will complete the 50 States Commemorative Coin Program, which established a series of quarters to commemorate each of the 50 states. The program began in 1999 and will end when Hawai‘i’s quarter is minted.
“When this process began, the commission, which was made up of leaders and students from around the state, built consensus and worked as a team,” said Jonathan Johnson, chairman of the commission. “Ultimately, I believe the commission and the public were given the opportunity to reflect on what makes our island home so unique. All of us should be proud that we live in such a wonderful place. I want to thank the commission members and the public for being active participants in this process.”
The process to select Hawai‘i’s quarter design began in February 2006 when Governor Lingle convened a 36-member commission that included individuals from across the state, representative of Hawai‘i’s diversity. The members included leaders from the community, government, business, education, labor, Native Hawaiian affairs, and culture and the arts. In addition, a member of the Numismatic Association, an organization dedicated to the study and collection of coins was on the commission. Five high school students from O‘ahu, Maui, Kaua‘i and the Big Island also were part of the commission.
The Commission solicited the public’s input and invited people to submit themes and concepts that it used to develop five narratives that were submitted to the U.S. Mint, which returned actual designs approved by the Secretary of the Treasury.
The Commission invited the public to vote for their favorite design in an on-line poll, which drew 26,396 votes over a two-week period this month. The results were as follows:
Hawai‘i, The Island State (design #4) – 7,262 votes,
28%
Hawai‘i – Diverse But Unified (design #5) – 6,238 votes, 24%
Aloha Spirit (design #2) – 5,180 votes, 20%
Diamond Head (design #3) – 4,183 votes, 16%
Surfing – Hawai‘i’s Gift to the World (design #1) – 3,533 votes, 13%
View the
final design and read the
timeline.
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For more information, contact:
Jonathan Johnson
Chair, HCQAC
Phone: (808) 586-0305
Marsha Wienert
Commission Advisor, HCQAC
Phone: (808) 586-2362
Lenny Klompus
Senior Advisor – Communications
Phone: (808) 586-7708
Russell Pang
Chief of Media Relations
Phone: (808) 586-0043
