Oklahoma's image is in mint condition

DENVER — Oklahoma pride shone Wednesday as bright as a new coin. As bright as an Oklahoma quarter, to be precise.

Gov. Brad Henry led an Oklahoma delegation at the U.S. Mint in Denver for a ceremony where they "struck” the quarter by pushing a button on a coin-making machine.

"I think there's tremendous Oklahoma pride here today,” Henry said after the ceremony. "Coming on the heels of the state centennial, I think it's appropriate that the Oklahoma quarter is the first one in 2008, and it gives Oklahoma a chance to shine throughout the land.”

The coin is to be placed in circulation Jan. 28. A mint official said between 300 million and 500 million will be made, depending upon demand.

The coin is one of a series in the U.S. Treasury's 50-state quarters program that began in 1999.

The governor called the event "another important step in the evolution of what I think is the greatest state.”

In brief remarks to the delegation and to mint officials, Henry recalled that the process of selecting a design began in 2006 by asking state residents to recommend what would appear on the quarter.

Of almost 1,000 suggestions, five were sent to the mint, and the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts selected the design.

The reverse side of the Oklahoma quarter depicts the state bird, the scissortail flycatcher, in flight with its tail feathers spread. The bird is soaring above the state wildflower, the Indian blanket.

The coin is inscribed "Oklahoma” and "1907,” the year Oklahoma became a state.

The depiction of the state wildflower symbolizes the state's American Indian heritage and native long-grass prairies.

The Oklahoma quarter was designed by master designer Susan Gamble and sculpted by mint sculptor Phebe Hemphill.

U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy has said the 50-state quarters program has been the most popular coin program in the nation's history. He said an estimated 147 million people collect the state coins.

Moy said the program has generated billions of dollars that have been used to pay down the national debt.

Before the group walked into the mint's production area, Henry said, "I've been waiting a long time to say, ‘I'm ready to make some real money.'”

Others attending Wednesday's ceremony were Oklahoma Treasurer Scott Meacham; Blake Wade, executive director of the Oklahoma Centennial Commission; Bob Blackburn, executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society; Jay Hannah, an executive vice president of BancFirst;