2013 ATB Design Selections!

WHITE MTN- boring
PERRYS- horrible, worst of the NP released to date
BASIN- I like it!
MCHENRY- as a native Marylander, this is the one I have had the highest hopes for and have been following since the first candidate designs were released, which were all horrible. I wrote to the CCAC and Maryland Senators imploring them to not screw up this design. I had hoped that they would pick a design that was an angled aerial view- showing the fort's signature architecture, an oversized American flag, and a British ship or two in the water. They basically could have adapted the SSB commemorative design. The design they picked is mediocre, not the worst that they could have picked----but very far from the best.
RUSHMORE- it should have been the whole monument in its finished state

Hate to sound like a complainer, but overall, I am really disappointed with 2013's designs.

VetStudent, they already had a full version of Mt. Rushmore on the South Dakota State Quarter and the committees didn't want to repeat the same view on two coins. Two very similar designs of the same thing wouldn't really fly with me, either. Apparently very similar designs of different places is okay, viz. the "Mountain View" series, but who knows.

Now that I've had a couple of weeks to live with the new designs, here's my take on the '13 quarters:

NH: Weakest of the five. As pointed out elsewhere looks too much like Mt Hood w/o the trees. There were several stronger design candidates including more trees or a moose design. It's a deceptive view people receiving this quarter in change will think the 'hill' is White Mountain, when it refers to the forest itself. (I hope that moose makes the cut for either the Minnesota, Wisconsin or Michigan quarters!)

OH: it grew on me, should be dynamite looking on the DMPL bullion 3". The ghost ships would've been a nice idea if had been offered by another world mint that goes in for gimmicks like holograms. It's the best of both rounds of the design review. How picturesque can you make a 150' pole?

NV: the best of the five. Easy to understand design.

MD: didn't like it at first, but as a 200th anniversary quarter, it will be a good complement to the SSB commemoratives.

SD: unusual design, but missing the iconic TR, the father of the NPS.

Good year overall, some of the parks presented significant design issues, but the problems seemed to be overcome for the less iconic sites.

But... but... but. Perry built his ships and sailed from Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA - not OH! Yes, Lake Erie spans across more than PA, but as one of Erie's claim to fame, they have Perr's flagship, the Niagara, that has its home at Erie's dock on Presque Isle Bay (even though the Niagara was sunk soon into battle and the Leopard became his flagship).

I guess Erie missed the boat n this one