Final DC Coin Face to be Chosen Only by DC (5/21/08)

Washington D.C.-Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said today that an official at the U.S. Mint has assured her that the Mint will respect the procedures and choices of the District that comply with the rules when selecting a coin design for the District. Norton sought clarification upon reading that a "Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee" favored a particular design, the Benjamin Banneker coin, which is one design among three. The other two feature Duke Ellington and Frederick Douglass.

"D.C. residents will have an opportunity to express their views on the city's choice for the person who should be on the quarter during the comment period beginning later this week and finishing in late June," Norton said. "Apparently, the recommendation of the advisory committee is an expression of its own views and does not speak for the U.S. Mint, D.C. officials or the residents of the District of Columbia and does not trump the city's final decision." "I sought clarification from the Mint because I was concerned that any pre-approval, even by an advisory committee composed of people that do not even live in the District of Columbia, would be inappropriate," Norton said.

Norton, Mayor Adrian Fenty and Council Chairman Vincent Gray appointed designees to help recommend a design for the long awaited D.C. circulating coin. Norton got the quarter bill through three successive House sessions, but it stalled in the Senate until last year. She appointed Dr. Michael Fauntroy, a D.C. resident and professor at George Mason University as her designee. The Mint declined to approve the "Taxation Without Representation" slogan that the District submitted. After the public comment period, the city will inform the Mint of its selection, and the coin will debut in January 2009.