40,579 people cast votes online at the state web site for their favorite quarter design among the five chosen to represent Michigan on the state's 2004 quarter. The five designs had been chosen by the Michigan Quarter Commission from a pool of more than 4,300 designs sent in by interested residents statewide.

Michigan's five quarter design selections and the votes they received were as follows:

	Outline of the Great Lakes surrounded by various familiar state images: lighthouse, Mackinac Bridge, antique automobile, canoe, white pine tree and the North Star.   14,333 votes
	Outline of the State of Michigan featuring the Mackinac Bridge and an antique automobile.   10,141 votes
	Outline of the Great Lakes featuring an antique automobile. 7,641 votes
	Outline of Michigan featuring the Great Lakes. 6,298 votes
	Outline of the Gre at Lakes featuring the Mackinac Bridge. 2,166 votes

The motto "Great Lakes State" will appear on all five selections.

The Michigan Quarter Opinion Poll on  the state web site   was a non-scientific popularity poll. The federal government has the ultimate authority over what the final design on Michigan's quarter will look like.

Participation in the Michigan Quarter Design contest was phenomenal. More than 4,300 entries were received from 73 of Michigan's 83 counties and from all corners of the state. Additionally, participants included:

• 3,492 students, representing 81 percent of the total
  
• 134 classrooms, from 117 different schools
  
• 80 submissions sent in via the michigan.gov web site
  
• Over 1,500 people, who used the state outline and the Great Lakes theme (which appear on all five final themes) in their design submission, and who received a certificate of recognition.

These five quarter designs were forwarded to the U.S. Mint to begin the federal approval process. Because every U.S. coin is federal currency, the U.S. Mint has the ultimate decision-making authority over what the final design on Michigan's quarter will look like. As the 26th state to join the union, the Michigan quarter is scheduled to come out in the early months of 2004.

The 50 State Quarters Program, sponsored by the U.S. Mint, was launched by legislation passed by Congress in 1997. Each state quarter is released in the order in which that state ratified the U.S. Constitution or entered the Union. All fifty are expected to be released by the end of 2008.

Contact the Michigan Historical Center.

Updated 07/08/2010