Isles ready for ideas on state quarter

When it comes to the minting of state commemorative quarters, being last will not be so bad after all.

And because Hawaii completes the nation's set, Gov. Linda Lingle is predicting the quarter will be the most collected of all.

"I really believe that, because it's the last one. It's the one that completes the set. It's the 50th out of the 50 states," she said, "And I think it will be in huge demand also because we have so many visitors from around this country and from around the world. Everyone will want to have this quarter."

A state advisory committee will begin accepting ideas to submit to the U.S. Mint next month.

But what will eventually be on it? A pineapple? A green turtle or whale? A spewing volcano?

Anyone can submit themes and concepts in written narratives of between 25 and 50 words. The commission will not accept any actual designs.

People who submit suggestions will not receive recognition or remuneration.

Gov. Linda Lingle has appointed 28 people to the commission and plans to add seven more. She is taking suggestions for student members to represent Maui County, Kauai, East Hawaii and West Hawaii.

The commission has a July deadline to refine and rank the suggestions. Lingle will select three to five that best represent Hawaii and submit them to the U.S. Mint.

"That doesn't give us much time," said Jonathan Johnson, commission chairman.

Johnson is also commission project manager for the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and Arts.

U.S. Mint artists will create designs based on the suggested concepts and forward them to Lingle and the advisory commission for review and final recommendation. Lingle has promised to make the designs public.

The secretary of the Treasury will give the final approval. The Hawaii Commemorative Quarter will be minted for 10 weeks in 2008.

President Bill Clinton signed The 50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act into law in 1997. The first commemorative state quarters went into circulation in 1999 in the order the states joined the union. The U.S. Treasury releases five quarters each year. The Nevada quarter is the latest put into circulation.

Coin collectors say the most desirable of the quarters released so far is the one representing Tennessee, which they refer to as the Elvis quarter.