Arguments of Arkansas Quarter
Launched in 1999, the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program is a 10-year initiative that honors each of the states in the order they were admitted into the Union by allowing the state to create a design to put on the “tails” side of the quarter opposite George Washington’s profile. Arkansas was the 25th quarter in the program and the final release of 2003. Each quarter is produced for about 10 consecutive weeks and then never again (United). In order to decide what symbols go on the quarter, most states hold statewide competitions in which normal citizens create a unique design to be judged by the Governor or other state representatives. In Arkansas, the contest resulted in over 9,000 entries which were then narrowed to three by Governor Mike Huckabee (“Arkansas”). Of course, a quarter is not the biggest canvas for these so-called artists to work with, so the symbols had to be chosen very carefully. In analyzing the arguments made by the state quarter of Arkansas, the way in which the symbols define the state, and the reasons why these specific few symbols were chosen, I discovered that the final result was a good portrayal of Arkansas but the state could have been better represented with a few simple changes to the design. The Arkansas quarter design depicts the image of rice stalks, a diamond, and a mallard duck flying above a lake. It is fitting that the "Natural State," Arkansass official nickname, chose images of natural resources as the main feature(“Arkansas”). ... Mint’s website, “the Governor forwarded three concepts to the United States Mint, including Arkansas natural resources and the State Capitol building. ... Huckabee probably because it doesn’t play into the typical uneducated farmer stereotype that most people hold against the state of Arkansas and its citizens. ... Huckabee, the last thing he wanted to do was present his state as one full of ignorant farmers; the natural resource theme effectively ignores that stereotype and presents an argument that Arkansas possesses natural beauty in every facet which can not be rivaled by any other state.