DENVER MINT BEGINS STRIKING WYOMING STATE QUARTERS Public Deposited

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  • The E-Sylum: Volume 10, Number 32, August 12, 2007, Article 23

    DENVER MINT BEGINS STRIKING WYOMING STATE QUARTERS

    On Monday the U.S. Mint in Denver held a ceremonial striking of
    Wyoming's commemorative quarter with a number of Wyoming state
    officials present. The Denver Post published a short article:

    "Participants in the ceremony included Bradford Ross, the grandson
    of the first woman governor of Wyoming and the first woman director
    of the Mint, Nellie Tayloe Ross; Milward Simpson, director of the
    Wyoming Department of Parks and Cultural Resources; and James Helzer,
    Wyoming Quarter Commission Member.

    "According to a news release, Wyoming's state quarter is the fourth
    coin released in 2007 and the 44th released in the Mint's 50 State
    Quarters Program. An image of a bucking horse and rider are featured
    on the coin, along with the inscription, "Equality State," which
    acknowledges the state's historical role in establishing equal voting
    rights for women. The coin also is inscribed with "Wyoming" and the
    year "1890," the year the state was admitted into the Union."

    To read the original article, see:
    Full Story

    The Jackson Hole Star-Tribune published a video on its web site.
    To view the video, see:
    Video

    The Wyoming Tribune published a lengthier piece:

    "Some may look at the Wyoming quarter - which was the subject of a
    ceremonial striking at the U.S. Mint here Monday - and see the
    duality in the state's culture engraved on the tails side of the
    coin.

    "On the right of the coin is the state slogan, 'The Equality State,'
    celebrating Wyoming's groundbreaking role in providing equal rights
    for women.

    "On the left is the well-known cowboy on a bucking bronc - a
    masculine symbol of individualism that brings to mind the popular
    moniker 'The Cowboy State.'

    "Nellie Tayloe Ross, Wyoming's first female governor and the first
    woman in the nation sworn in as a state governor, would not see
    those values in opposition though.

    "On Monday, her grandson, Bradford Ross, said, 'I think my grandmother
    would say that the suffrage issues really helped illustrate the
    reality of the (cowboy on) the bucking horse symbol.

    "'The men of Wyoming - the cowboys of Wyoming - are so self-confident
    that they don't feel like they're losing anything by giving women the
    right to vote. My grandmother saw the people of Wyoming were
    progressive and insightful.'

    "Dignitaries and media milled about the highly secured production
    floor of the Mint in Denver, a facility Ross knew well.

    "Milward Simpson is director of the Department of State Parks and
    Cultural Resources. He also was a member of the Wyoming Coinage
    Advisory Committee that reviewed and whittled down the options for
    the coin.

    "He said public suggestions for the bucking bronc and cowboy as a
    symbol for the coin ran 10-1 as the most recommended symbol in
    3,200 suggestions.

    "Some people see the two slogans - 'The Equality State' and 'The
    Cowboy State' - as contradictory, but he does not.

    "'The nature of the cowboy as a symbol is retrospective, and the
    Equality State is aspirational. So they sort of fit together,' he
    said.

    "Simpson said Ross' role at the Mint made her the logical choice
    to exemplify Wyoming's commitment to equality for women during the
    striking of a coin.

    "She was appointed to head the U.S. Mint by President Roosevelt in
    1933 and served until 1953.

    "Bradford Ross said his grandmother's accomplishments at the Mint
    included overseeing the opening of a new building in San Francisco
    in 1937; producing coins for European nations after World War II;
    and pushing for automation and efficiency at the Mint facilities.

    "Bradford Ross said, 'Walking the halls of this building as a little
    12-year-old boy with my grandmother, I could see how proud she was
    of the people who work here and the work that they do.'

    "Ross' legacy lives on at the Mint, said Barbara Hurtgam, acting
    deputy plant manager.

    "She said she hoped the attendees witnessing the ceremonial striking
    would find the facility 'as automated and efficient as (Nellie Tayloe
    Ross) would want us to be.'

    To read the complete article, see:
    Full Story

Source URL Date published
  • 2007-08-12
Volume
  • 10

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