Just looked in my drawer, and found a “Great Sand Dunes” quarter from 2014.
This quarter has been out for SEVEN YEARS. And I never knew it existed. I suppose that’s a sign of our times. We just don’t use cash as much. It’s rarer and rarer to come across random coins. For now I’ll appreciate this 2014 “Grand Sand Dunes” quarter.
It’s fun looking at this coin. The way the people are positioned, invites you to imagine you are the people at this beach. That’s a nice job by a coin. You have a sand bucket and a shovel. Digging into the sand by the water.
Coins in regular circulation are such a great canvas for inspiration
- Coins are something you randomly encounter.
You normally don’t walk around asking for a specific state quarter. You get a scene completely at random. No expectations. - Coins are held by hand.
Since you hold this tiny object in your hand, you have an immediate tactile connection with it. This is a real object held by your fingers. You can feel the textures on the coin. You can see how the light reflects differently based on how you old the coin. - Coins are small and intimate.
Looking at this small coin takes you to lands far away. All in a super-tiny landscape that fits onto a coin. Look at the detail on this coin. Amazing how they fit in all that texture in the sand dunes. - Coins are meant to be shared.
By design, coins are meant to be in circulation. They are meant to be transferred from one person to another person. Not locked up in a frame. Although if you encounter a really nice coin, you could frame it. But these coins are to be circulated. Their message communicating to a variety of people across places and times. - Coins are common among everyone.
At least everyone in your country. Someone in Wyoming can encounter the same coins as someone in Vermont. Coins have a commonality that can unite us.
The official U.S. Mint rendering of the coin:
