QUARTERGATE?

It was bad enough that the U.S. Mint, in refining the final designs for the Maine quarter, bulldozed majestic Katahdin into a pathetic hummock and plowed an expertly composed scene of the Great North Woods into a clutter of stunted trees, ugly rocks and a misproportioned canoeist. Mainers were understandably upset at this ill-considered tinkering with their scenery; many found consolation in the thought that it was not malicious, that even federal art bureaucrats are entitled to the occasional bad day.

Now comes evidence that the Mint is not just guilty of having no eye for art. There may indeed be malice afoot.

The winner among the four finalists, as voted upon last week by the citizens of this state, is a view of the Pemaquid Light. Like what it did to Brian Kent’s rendering of Katahdin, the Mint’s treatment of the original drawing by Daniel J. Carr of this coastal landmark is shabby and inexplicable. Misproportion and clutter seem to be consistent elements of the Mint style.

Here’s the possible malice: Mr. Carr’s drawing included the famed and historic three-masted schooner Victory Chimes, the very flagship of Maine’s windjammer fleet. The Mint has substituted what, at best, is a nondescript two-masted schooner. At worst, it may have substituted a vessel that, according to experts, is nothing less than the Pride of Baltimore II, flagship of the state of Maryland.

No reasonable person can look at these two versions and conclude that the Mint rightly determined there simply was not room for a third mast – its injection of needless rocks, gulls and outbuildings into the clean and spacious original drawing precludes such a defense. There must be another explanation.

It is widely known in numismatic circles that a good many Marylanders are disappointed in their state quarter, issued in 2000. It features the dome of the Maryland Statehouse, which, as they ruefully observe, looks not unlike the dome of any other statehouse. It also is widely known that good many federal employees live in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, including, presumably, Mint employees. If inserting a subliminal plug for one state into another state’s coin is a crime, here we have both motive and opportunity.

An investigation is in order. While we’re at it, let’s have another look at that lighthouse. The Carr original is unmistakably Pemaquid. The Mint’s, for some strange reason, makes us think of a round of miniature golf we played last summer just outside of Bethesda.