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The
Pennsylvania quarter, the second coin
in the 50 State Quarters® Program,
depicts the statue "Commonwealth," an
outline of the state, the state
motto, and a keystone. This design
was chosen to further help educate
people about the origins of our
second state, founded on December 12,
1787.
The statue "Commonwealth," designed by New
York sculptor Roland Hinton Perry, is a
bronze-gilded 14' 6" high female form that
has topped Pennsylvania's state capitol
dome in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania since May
25, 1905. Her right arm extends in kindness
and her left arm grasps a ribbon mace to
symbolize justice. The image of the
keystone honors the states nickname, "The
Keystone State." At a Jefferson Republican
victory rally in October 1802, Pennsylvania
was toasted as "the keystone in the federal
union." The modern persistence of this
designation is justified in view of the key
position of Pennsylvania in the economic,
social, and political development of the
United States.
Selections for
the Pennsylvania circulating quarter
began on January 30,1998.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge
issued a proclamation establishing a
Commemorative Quarter Committee to
review possible designs. The
14-member committee included
representatives from major cultural,
conservation, travel, and tourism
organizations; a teacher; a high
school student; the president of the
state Numismatic Society; and the
state treasurer. The governor invited
all Pennsylvanians to submit design
concepts to the committee - and
received more than 5,300 ideas. The
committee reached consensus on their
recommendations, and the governor
forwarded five preferred concepts to
the United States Mint. Four of the
designs were recommended by the
Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory
Committee and the Fine Arts
Commission and approved by the
Secretary of the Treasury. From these
final four candidates, the governor
chose the current design to represent
Pennsylvania in the 50 State
Quarters® Program.
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The Pennsylvania quarter
depicts the statue "Commonwealth," an
outline of the state, the state
motto, and a keystone.
United States Mint
image
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To
learn even more about the
State Quarters Program, please
visit,
The United States
Mint
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