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The Pennsylvania quarter's reverse features the "Commonwealth" statue, an allegorical female figure.
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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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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090114211134im_/http://usmint.gov/images/blank.gif) |
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