Wisconsin Quarter

October 1, 2003 1:20 PM

Wisconsin has picked its quarter design! Gov. Jim Doyle Tuesday overruled an advisory panel and told the U.S. Mint to put a cow, wheel of cheese and ear of corn on Wisconsin's commemorative quarter, despite fears that it won't reflect the state's cities or its rich ethnic heritage
posted by Durwood (34 comments total)

What? No can of Schlitz?
posted by coelecanth at 1:21 PM on October 1, 2003

I envision this as an "up yours" to Idaho and their Famous Potatoes license plates. "Hey, spudheads, who looks dumber now!"
posted by m@ at 1:37 PM on October 1, 2003

Should be a fireworks stand and Brett Favre's misshapen head.
posted by COBRA! at 1:39 PM on October 1, 2003

Anyone seen Missouri yet? Even with a mint here in Denver I still have yet to see one in the wild.

And in regards to Wisconsin: MOOOO!
posted by jazon at 1:40 PM on October 1, 2003

My Winsconsinese partner says... It was a red-vested governor who once "saved" Wisconsin from its poor taste by overruling a a plebiscite that would have changed our license plate to a badger holding up half a peace sign with the motto "Eat Cheese or Die." Had that been on the table, I am sure there would have been no controversy.
posted by stonerose at 1:41 PM on October 1, 2003

a badger holding up half a peace sign with the motto "Eat Cheese or Die"

I would move across the river in a heartbeat for imagery like that.
posted by COBRA! at 1:47 PM on October 1, 2003

Is there a way to get the funny accent on a quarter?
posted by jalexei at 1:48 PM on October 1, 2003

"What? No can of Schlitz?"

Ah, thank you apparently-not-really-extinct-fish. That gave me a good giggle.

Also: all the coin choices were stupid, so whatever. Cow, cheese, corn - works for me.
posted by kavasa at 1:49 PM on October 1, 2003

Beef, cheese, and corn says "ENCHILADA" to me, not "WISCONSIN".

Whatevah.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:53 PM on October 1, 2003

Speaking of the Missouri quarter, there's been a big stink raised by the artist of the original design picked in the statewide contest. Apparently the US Mint didn't like his design, so they came up with their own. I guess his voice finally got heard, because the actual quarter is a lot nicer and closer to the original, but I think the trees look like mushrooms. I still haven't seen it in circulation here in Missouri, even though it was launched in August.
posted by zsazsa at 2:08 PM on October 1, 2003

I'm sure no one will get this reference, but the fact that the car on the Indiana state quarter has no airbox on the top of it makes me smile.
posted by Space Coyote at 2:12 PM on October 1, 2003

I have seen the Missouri quarter just this week (in California) and it is quite lovely!
posted by Woolcott'sKindredGal at 2:25 PM on October 1, 2003

I'm sure no one will get this reference, but the fact that the car on the Indiana state quarter has no airbox on the top of it makes me smile.

Perhaps meant to invoke the heady days of the pre-CART (no airbox)/IRL (airbox) split? I need to get out more...
posted by jalexei at 2:27 PM on October 1, 2003

Plenty of Missouri quarters here in Massachusetts (Boston/Cambridge).
posted by whatzit at 2:30 PM on October 1, 2003

It's just about time to update the Book of Ratings' ratings of the state quarter designs (parts 1, 2, 3, and 4. (The ratings originally appeared at the now-defunct Brunching Shuttlecocks.)
posted by kirkaracha at 2:34 PM on October 1, 2003

How about a picture of a toothless drunk sitting in a hunting parka on a bleecher at Lambaugh field. It's ain't exactly "rich" or "ethnic", but it's certainly their heritage.

I don't know why people care so much about the quarters. i don't think people's views of a state and going to be shaped and formed by the picture of a cow or an astronaut. It's kinda cute and fun, but it's nothing more. And what kind of profound statement and knowledge can you bring across on a piece of metal that's less than an inch in diameter.
posted by graventy at 2:51 PM on October 1, 2003

South Dakota Considering Maybe Putting Mount Rushmore On State Quarter.
posted by Johnny Assay at 2:57 PM on October 1, 2003

COBRA!, are you named for CoBrA?
posted by the fire you left me at 3:10 PM on October 1, 2003

Wow. A big beef head won the popular vote? Amazing.
posted by scarabic at 3:14 PM on October 1, 2003

I don't know graventy...my 9 year old has the collector's book from the US Mint that she keeps the new quarters in and she knows the location of all the states now. I'm interested too, but that's just for the cute and fun part.
posted by Woolcott'sKindredGal at 4:07 PM on October 1, 2003

cool - i just learnt that half of mcdonalds is based in missouri.
posted by andrew cooke at 5:40 PM on October 1, 2003

I haven't seen the Missouri quarter. But then again for some reason it takes a while for the new quarters to get here. Or at least to get to me. (I am in the Chicago area)
posted by SisterHavana at 5:50 PM on October 1, 2003

States are using the quarter as an advertising venue. More Spam. Promoting Industry (cheese) and tourism (canoeing explorers). Is Wisconsin really just about makeing money or do the people of that great state actually have some Pride of History that trancends self promotion. It is a cheesy quarter if you ask me.
posted by stbalbach at 6:42 PM on October 1, 2003

Now if they could just find a way to beer batter and deep-fry each quarter, that would really say "Wisconsin" to me.
posted by MrBaliHai at 6:53 PM on October 1, 2003

Meanwhile, I'm going to have to wait until 2008 to see how my (sometimes reluctant) state will be represented...
posted by pzarquon at 7:17 PM on October 1, 2003

A cow and a cheese wheel isn't so bad. They could have followed Maine's strategy and selected a monument that promptly ceased to exist.
posted by SPrintF at 8:24 PM on October 1, 2003

People really don't seem to know their New England geography here. C'mon, New Hampshire isn't even a "flyover state"!

/as a Missourian, loathes the term "flyover state"
posted by tss at 8:41 PM on October 1, 2003

Having seen the other two proposed designs, I was really hoping for the cow and cheese motif. The others were just generic and badly designed (not that I was all that excited about the dairy, mind you). You could choose a fur trader stealing the land from greeting a Native American, a deer (probably one with CWD) standing in a scraggling landscape, or the cow and cheese wheel. Such a thrill.
posted by kayjay at 10:15 PM on October 1, 2003

Personally my favorite is still the Ohio state quarter. Ohio: some people were born here, then went someplace else and got famous.

And Jazon: yes, I've seen the Missouri in the wild, in both P and D variants. Of course I'm a damned fool, who saves every single state quarter that comes my way.
posted by mosch at 10:16 PM on October 1, 2003

This depresses me. Of the three choices, the one I liked the least one (Wisconsin is so much more than cheese...) especially since many of the "hip" people I know that voted online for this decided the cheese one was so bad it's good.

Blah!
posted by drezdn at 10:56 PM on October 1, 2003

Hey, the real injustice is the Nation's Capital, Washington DC, is not planned to have a quarter.
posted by Dagobert at 12:27 AM on October 2, 2003

SprintF, it was New Hampshire's state quarter design that promptly ceased to exist, not Maine (unless they suddenly ran out of lighthouses and sailboats).

I've seen the MO quarter and it's lame as hell. Though, I doubt any state could be worse than Alabama -- the Helen Keller State. I find it hard to believe that they couldn't have chosen something that actually reflected the state's personality or population. What in the hell does Helen Keller have to do with Alabama? I guess the message is that Alabamans are all blind and deaf mutes in need of education.

Personally, I think the aesthetic for Connecticut and Mississippi's quarters are the best of the lot so far.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 1:52 AM on October 2, 2003

I find it hard to believe that they couldn't have chosen something that actually reflected the state's personality or population

But it's Alabama. I can imagine the conversation...

What do we put on the quarter?
Helen Keller.
Helen Keller?
Helen Keller. It's that or a black lady in the back of a bus, or mayhap a cross-burnin'.

(They really should have put on something relating to the Marshall Space Flight Center. At least Mississippi had a nice magnolia.)
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:47 AM on October 2, 2003

COBRA!, are you named for CoBrA?

Nope, for this. But I like the snakey logo for your CoBrA.

(I'd put it on a quarter if I had my own state)
posted by COBRA! at 7:08 AM on October 2, 2003