50 State Quarters Rated: 2007

Montana
Kansas and North Dakota already used living bison on their quarters, so in order to make a variation on the theme, Montana uses a dead bison (or at least its skull). This morbid icon is superimposed over flat plains with a few token hills on the left side. The result is an image of the state which is barren and uninviting.
Rating: 5¢

Washington
Including Mt. Rainier on this quarter is a given. Including salmon, the unofficial state fish, is also a given, even though the official state fish is the steelhead trout (nobody would know what a trout looks like). Putting them together in a pastoral nature scene is a recipe for success. I'd like to see the Space Needle on there as well, but I won't fault Washington for trying to show that the state is relatively untouched by man.
Rating: 20¢

Idaho
This is another exceedingly dull quarter. It has a miniature state outline, instead of the full-sized outline I prefer. It has the front half of a perigrine falcon, which supposedly has a habitat in Idaho. And it has the state motto, which, while motivational, doesn't tell me much about the state. In fact, the entire quarter tells me nothing more than what Idaho looks like and that birds live there.
Rating: 0¢

Wyoming
Anyone who has been to Wyoming knows that the silhouette of the cowboy on a bucking bronco is an omnipresent symbol throughout the state. With a canvas the size of a quarter, Wyoming could have done more with the cowboy, such as put clothes on him or show him next to some natural landmark like Devil's Tower or Old Faithful. They did neither. It's boring.
Rating: 5¢

Utah
The state of Utah is home to four of the most spectacular national parks in the United States. It is also a winter sports paradise. Interestingly, neither of these features are highlighted on the state quarter. Instead, the quarter depicts a historical event which, while not insignificant, is not what one would say Utah is known for. The slogan also comes out of nowhere -- Utah is the Beehive State, but there is no mention of it on the quarter.
Rating: 5¢

Five more quarters are due to be released next year, and there is a possibility the program will expand to include DC and the territories. We will conclude this series when the designs for next year are made available.