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OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
PRESS RELEASE
(for immediate release – Tuesday, February 19, 2008)
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Office: (684) 633-4116 - Fax: (684) 633-2269 - Cell: (684) 731-8989
Lt. Gov. Ipulasi announces 55 submissions for American Samoa Quarter
(UTULEI) - Lieutenant Governor Ipulasi Aitofele Sunia has announced that 55 submissions of designs for a Territorial Quarter (25 cent coin), that will be issued by the U.S. Mint in 2009, were received by the Office of the Governor by the deadline of February 13th.
Lieutenant Governor Ipulasi expressed his sincere gratitude to all the people that submitted designs when the government solicited the Territory’s participation on January 28th.
“I am deeply happy and honored to have received the 55 submissions from our people in such a short amount of time,” said Lieutenant Governor Ipulasi. “I wish to thank and congratulate all the students, teachers, government employees and private individuals who made wonderful submissions. Thank you for using the opportunity to participate in the process. Now, we will collaborate with the U.S. Mint for the next 4 to 5 months to come up with the final designs to choose from and look forward to our commemorative 25 cent coin in 2009.”
Lieutenant Governor Ipulasi said the common thread in the designs were the tanoa (ava bowl), fue (fly whisk), to’oto’o (oratory staff), Fale Samoa and the niu/popo (coconut). He also said many submissions included, map of the Samoan archipelago, American Samoa seal, taupou, tulafale (high talking chief), breadfruit and pe’a (bat/flying fox). According to Lieutenant Governor Ipulasi, the unique designs also included creative representation of the Southern Cross and Charlie the Tuna of StarKist Samoa fame.
“It is important that I stress that the selection of the final design, as part of the criteria of the U.S. Mint, will be based on our description through a narrative that we will submit to the coin designers at the U.S. Department of the Treasury,” said Lieutenant Governor Ipulasi. “We will include in the submission plenty of local resource material, such as artwork, photos, maps, and other relevant material, so that the Mint can design our quarter.”
Lieutenant Governor Ipulasi said the narratives of the submissions will now be prepared and sent to the U.S. Mint by February 25th to produce at its discretion one or more original candidate designs for each concept, focusing on aesthetic beauty, historical accuracy (the concept or theme does represent the Samoan culture or history accurately), appropriateness (the design must be dignified and one that will make American Samoa and the rest of the America proud) and coinability (the design must be one that can be produced on a coin).
During March and April, the U.S. Mint and the Office of the Governor will collaborate on the designs to ensure historical accuracy and proper representation of the designs. The designs will be refined, as necessary, before presenting them to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) and the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) in Washington DC.
In late April, the CCAC and the CFA will review the designs and make recommendations, and the U.S. Mint, in consultation with the Office of the Governor, may make changes to address such recommendations.
In May, from among the final designs, the Office of the Governor will recommend its primary and secondary design choices through a process determined by the Office of the Governor, within a time frame specified by the U.S. Mint.
In June, the U.S. Mint will present the primary recommended design from the Territory of American Samoa to the Secretary of the Treasury for approval.
“It is our hope that after we go through this lengthy process with the U.S. Mint, and the approval of the Secretary of the treasury, that we will reveal the final designs by July of this year,” said Lieutenant Governor Ipulasi. “The American Samoa territorial quarter will be minted and issued in 2009. I wish to thank all those that submitted designs. Please know in your hearts that through your respective designs, you have participated and contributed to the design and creation of our territorial coin. Thank you for lending a hand to this very important project. We will keep you informed on the latest development from the U.S. Mint.”
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On December 27, 2007, President George W. Bush signed legislation for American Samoa, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Washington DC to have their own commemorative quarter-dollars in 2009.
The new 25 cent coin will continue to feature image of President George Washington on the obverse (heads side) of each quarter. The image on the reverse (tails side) will commemorate the history, geography or traditions of American Samoa.
Designs cannot be designs that are protected by law. And they cannot be representations of heads and shoulders nor portraits of any person, living or dead.
The 50 State Quarters coins is a ten-year program that was introduced in 1999. It will end this year with the issuance of the Hawaii commemorative quarter, marking the 50th State to be honored.
A provision was added by Congress to the 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act to produce the Territorial Quarters for American Samoa, the other territories and Washington DC, which will be honored first in 2009. Further information on The 50 State Quarters® Program is available at www.usmint.gov/pressroom
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