Federal Panel Selects Design For State Quarter

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A federal panel recommended a design for Oklahoma's commemorative quarter that shows the state bird flying above wildflowers. <br/><br/>The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts made the

Saturday, January 20th 2007, 9:11 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A federal panel recommended a design for Oklahoma's commemorative quarter that shows the state bird flying above wildflowers.

The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts made the suggestion after evaluating five designs for the Oklahoma quarter, The Oklahoman reported Saturday from its Washington bureau.

The commission's action is just one step in the process for selecting the state's quarter, which will be released in 2008. On Tuesday, the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee is scheduled to evaluate the five designs submitted by Oklahoma and make its own recommendation.

The nine-step process also will include review and approval by the U.S. Treasury Secretary and the state. All 50 states are getting commemorative quarters in order of their entrance into the union; Oklahoma was the 46th state.

The design chosen by the commission, a seven-member panel composed of artists and architects, features a scissor-tailed flycatcher, the state bird, in the center of the coin, with a field of Indian blanket wildflowers around the bottom half. At the top is the word Oklahoma and just below that is the year of statehood, 1907.