Pemaquid wins quarter design Lighthouse to grace Maine’s coin

AUGUSTA – The state quarter finals are over and the winner is: Pemaquid Point Light.

Gov. Angus S. King announced Thursday the design featuring a lighthouse dominating a rocky point with a schooner in the background was the leading choice to grace the back of the American quarter.

As a result, the lighthouse will become the state’s new calling card in May when the U.S. Mint begins its production of the Maine quarter under the department’s 50 State Quarters Program.

Maine’s entry into the process began a year ago when a special panel appointed by the governor began evaluating designs. After receiving a variety of suggestions from within and outside the state, the panel entered into discussions with the State Treasurer’s Office and the Maine Arts Commission.

After negotiations between state officials and the Mint, four finalist designs were agreed upon. Although the Mint directed the governor to choose the design, King decided to give the public a role in the decision through a ballot on a state Web site.

Mainers were invited to pick their favorite from among the Pemaquid Point Light design; an American Indian in a canoe crossing a pond with Mount Katahdin in the background; West Quoddy Head Light including a pine tree and the words “Our Nation’s First Light”; and a design highlighted by the state’s outline with the sun rising on the right and the “Dirigo” North Star on the left, inscribed with the phrase, “Our Nation’s First Light.”

Of the more than 117,000 ballots cast, King said 7,000 were received as paper ballots while the rest arrived over the Internet. The final breakdown among the entries was: Pemaquid Point Light, 35 percent; Mount Katahdin, 29 percent; West Quoddy Head, 25 percent; and the state outline, 10 percent.

“Everybody really had an interest in this,” King said. “Whole families voted. Different regions got interested in it and threw their support behind the quarter that represented their region and it has really been kind of a fun thing.”

At the Damariscotta Regional Chamber of Commerce, Cheryl Gray said residents of the Damariscotta, Bristol and Newcastle area should be pleased that the region’s famous lighthouse will be the symbol most closely associated with the state as the quarters circulate across the country and beyond.

Still, she acknowledged some people probably would be just as happy if fewer tourists were not enticed to the popular vacation destination.

“I’ve run into that attitude from those who don’t want people from away coming in,” she said. “But you know these visitors don’t just disrupt everyone else’s way of life. They also bring goodness to the area.”

The U.S. Mint’s quarters program debuted Jan. 1, 1998, with Delaware and will continue through 2008 until all 50 states have been represented.

Maine’s quarter will be circulated next spring. Since Maine was the 23rd state to join the union March 15, 1820, it will be 23rd in the Mint’s series.

Mintage numbers for each series are not released by the Mint until a year after the coin begins circulating. To date, mintage numbers have ranged from 632,000,000 for Ohio’s quarter to a 1,594,616,000 for Virginia’s.