Quarter design finalists submitted to Mint

Kansas might be best-known for two things: farmers and “The Wizard of Oz.”

So it’s not surprising that designs featuring those themes were Lawrence residents’ favored choices Tuesday among the five recently submitted to become the Kansas quarter in 2005.

“It’s already famous,” Charles Boyd, 55, said of a design featuring a sunflower with a banner across it proclaiming, “There’s no place like home” — the famous line from “Oz.”

The other favorite choice: an engraving of a mural in the Statehouse painted by Kansan John Steuart Curry, featuring a farmer in overalls standing in a sea of wheat with two children.

“It’s the most interesting,” said Julia Noyce, 22. “It encompasses what I think Kansas is like.”

The Kansas Commemorative Coin Design Committee recently selected the five finalists from more than 1,200 entries, said Sen. Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita, the committee’s vice chairwoman.

“In all the narratives, people talked about the pride, pioneer spirit, hard work and determination of Kansans,” she said. “All the entries reflected great pride in the state.”

The proposals are only written. Artists from the U.S. Mint will have to illustrate the ideas.

High school students across the state will vote on the designs in April. But Tuesday in downtown Lawrence, each of the proposed designs drew favorable comments.

World Online Poll

Which of the following should be placed on the back of the Kansas quarter?

A circle with sunflowers on one side, a buffalo head on the other and, in the middle, the Ad Astra sculpture that sits atop the state Capitol.
An outlined map of Kansas, adorned with the state Capitol, sunflowers, a buffalo, an American Indian and wheat.
A sunflower with a banner across it proclaiming, “There’s no place like home.”
Symbols of wheat, buffalo and sunflowers.
The well-known mural in the Capitol painted by Kansan John Steuart Curry in the 1940s featuring a farmer in overalls standing in a sea of wheat with two children.
Sunflowers, rolling hills and an airplane (alternate).
None of the above.

¢See the results »Note: This is not a scientific poll. The results reflect only the opinions of those who chose to participate.

Ashley Rosenthal, 13, said she liked a design featuring a circle with sunflowers on one side, a buffalo head on the other and, in the middle, the Ad Astra sculpture that sits atop the state Capitol.

“It’s just not normal,” Rosenthal said in favor of the design.

Jeff Webb liked a quarter featuring an outlined map of Kansas adorned with the state Capitol, sunflowers, a buffalo, an American Indian and wheat.

“Growing up those are things I thought of when I thought of Kansas. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I like it,” Webb said.

The “Oz”-themed quarter received the most favorable comments — and the most negative reaction.

“Definitely not, ‘No place like home,'” Noyce said. “It’s stupid.”

Now it’s up to the students to decide.

“It’s going to be interesting what designs the mint says have coinability,” Schodorf said. “When you study the state quarters, there are some with scenes very simple and others that are busy. I want Kansas to be one of the prettiest coins in the series.”

— The Associated Press contributed to this story.