A quarter for your thoughts?

The state wants your help designing a new quarter featuring Washington state, but put down your sketch pad and pull up your laptop.

Only essays laying out what the new coin might look like are being considered. Don't even bother to send in a drawing.

The essays must be 100 words or less and should say what image you would like to see on the quarter and its significance to Washington.

It will be up to the U.S. Mint to convert the chosen essay information into an imprint for the quarter.

Entries are due July 30.

The new quarter, the 42nd in a series commemorating the states of the Union, is scheduled for release in spring 2007.

"The U.S. Mint only accepts narrative submissions," said Washington Arts Commission's Mark Gerth, a spokesman for the state Quarter Advisory Commission. The panel is headed by honorary chairman Mike Gregoire, husband of Gov. Christine Gregoire.

Gerth said 625 essays have been submitted so far, many suggesting a rendering of Mount Rainier.

Other images suggested include Mount St. Helens (pre- and post-eruption), rain, wheat, the goldfinch (state bird), apples, Chief Seattle, slugs, Grand Coulee Dam — even Bigfoot.

One of Gerth's favorites was submitted by someone trying to bridge the divide between Eastern and Western Washington: an orca with an apple in its mouth leaping out of the water.

The entries will be reviewed by the quarter commission, and three to five finalists will be selected by Gov. Gregoire and sent to the U.S. Mint. The mint will turn the entries into designs and send them back to the state for consideration next April. Gerth said the finalists' entries will be put to the public for an online vote, but the governor will have the final say.

The quarters are being released five per year, based on when each state entered the Union. Oregon's was just released and features an image of Crater Lake.

According to the Mint, the designs for Washington's quarter should have broad appeal to the state's citizens and avoid controversial subjects or symbols. They can include landmarks or historically significant buildings, symbols of state resources or the official state flora and fauna, such as the state grass (bluebunch wheatgrass) or the state flower (coast rhododendron).

State flags and state seals will not be considered, nor will logos, anything religious and images associated with sports or organizations where membership is not universal.

And forget about George himself. A two-headed quarter won't work, Gerth said. Not only would the Mint veto it, it would cause havoc for coin flips. (George will stay on the flip side, like on all state quarters.)

It's not a ban against George per se, Gerth said, but the rules say the coins cannot bear the head and shoulders of any person, living or dead. So no Bill Gates either.

Bigfoot? That's another matter.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com