The word is out from the Nevada State Treasurer’s office (PDF link to the press release): Nevada’s State Quarter has been chosen.
We The People chose wild horses running free in a design named “Morning in Nevada”. Originally those mountains were supposed to be the Sierra Nevada, but it didn’t take the citizens long to realize that the Sierra are at the western edge of the state, and hence the only people that see the sun rise over the Sierra are Californians. So they quickly changed the description to “snowcapped mountains”.
This design received 32 percent of the total vote, and apparently a quarter of those votes came from elementary school children. I know my niece loved the horse most of all, especially since the other finalists consisted of grossly oversized sheep, axes, straw ducks, and scary miners with axes. Of course the horses are going to win. Duh.
The quarter is going to be released in 2006, and the way things are going it’s questionable if there will be any wild horses left in the state by then. But at least we’ll always have the quarter to remember them.
Also, 75% of the votes were cast on the website, with the other 25% mailed in. Maybe Nevada is ready for this internet thing after all.
