
Wyoming
The fourth commemorative quarter-dollar coin released in 2007 honors
Wyoming, and is the 44th coin in the United States Mint's 50 State
Quarters® Program. Wyoming, nicknamed the "Equality State," was admitted
into the Union on July 10, 1890, becoming our Nation's 44th state. The
reverse of Wyoming's quarter features a bucking horse and rider with the
inscriptions "The Equality State," "Wyoming" and "1890."
The bucking horse and rider symbolize Wyoming's Wild West heritage.
"Buffalo Bill" Cody personified this in his traveling Wild West show.
First settled by fur trappers, Fort Laramie, Wyoming, later became a
popular destination for pioneers traveling the Oregon Trail.
Wyoming was nicknamed the "Equality State" because of its historical
role in establishing equal voting rights for women. Wyoming was the
first territory to grant "female suffrage" and became the first state in
the Nation to allow women to vote, serve on juries and hold public
office. In 1924, Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first woman elected
Governor of Wyoming. In 1933, Ross became the first woman appointed as
the Director of the United States Mint.
In 2004, Governor Dave Freudenthal formed the Wyoming Coinage Advisory
Committee, which includes 13 Wyoming historians and other experts. The
State invited citizens to submit narratives, and approximately 3,200
were accepted over a three-month period. Governor Freudenthal then
recommended five concepts that were developed into design candidates by
the United States Mint sculptor-engravers and artists in the United
States Mint's Artistic Infusion Program. On May 12, 2006, Governor
Freudenthal announced his recommendation of the bucking horse and rider
design.
The Department of the Treasury approved the design on June 22, 2006.
Four other designs were considered, including "Bucking Horse and Rider
with State Outline;" "Bucking Horse and Rider with Teton Range;"
"Bucking Horse and Rider in typical Wyoming scene," depicting a horse
and rider on a ranch; and "Yellowstone National Park — Old Faithful
Geyser," featuring the famous geyser located in Yellowstone National
Park.
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