The New Mexico State Quarter Arrives

When I first saw the design artwork late last year for the New Mexico State Quarter, (which was released into circulation about a week ago,) I thought, "Oh boy, another plain-jane type of coin that will probably be forgotten quickly. Can't they come up with anything better than this?" It's not that the design artwork itself was that bad or boring, it's just that when you've already seen 46 Statehood Quarters go from design concept to actual coin, you tend to fear the worst. Fortunately, my instincts were wrong this time! The New Mexico State Quarter is a delightful piece of art, partly because the map has some detail to it, but mostly because the Zia Sun Symbol (the cross-shaped thing) has been incused deeply into the map in a way that makes it seems almost ...alive! It resonates, rather than just sits there.

The New Mexico State Quarter is the 47th in the series, and the second State Quarter to be released this year. The Zia Sun Symbol, a major design element, has a very interesting history, probably not what most people in New Mexico would expect! We're not talking about some ancient Native American sign here; the Zia Sun Symbol was inspired by a design found on a Pueblo water jug that was made in the latter part of the 1800's. Anybody who has seen Pueblo artwork knows that it contains a lot of lines and geometric forms, and when I dug into the story of the Zia Sun Symbol I learned that the ascendancy of this symbol to its prominent place in New Mexico imagery was almost random! But they've built a great story around it, and contrived some nice spiritual meanings for it based on Pueblo mythology.

Wonder what the heck I'm going on about? Check out my article on the background behind the New Mexico State Quarter.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Mint.