Minting Duke Ellington, by Mike Gold – Brainiac on Banjo #104

February 2, 2009 Mike Gold 7 Comments

O.K. This is seriously cool.

Unless you’re terrified by vending machines, you’ve probably noticed for the past decade or so the U.S. Mint has been issuing state-themed quarters. The heads side carries the visage of General George Washington, the tails side some sort of design reflective of each state’s history or ambiance.

Zillions of collectors gobbled these puppies right up; even more folks sought out their home state’s quarters out of patriotic fervor. That’s great, but there’re only 50 states and they just nailed Hawaii. No problem, the Mint said, we’ll honor the District of Columbia and then our sundry possessions: Puerto Rico, Guam, Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Marianas. And, sayeth the Mint, we’ll start with the District of Columbia and its only city, Washington.

You’d think they’d simply stamp out a bunch of two-headed Washington quarters. Cheap, easy, and cute. But, no, the folks in the District of Columbia decided to honor one of its native sons. After some discussion about abolitionist Fredrick Douglass and surveyor Benjamin Banneker, the locals decided on musician, Pulitzer Prize recipient and Presidential Medal of Freedom winner Duke Ellington.

I’m a music fan of wide taste, and there are a select few composers/performers whose talent is so astonishing I cannot rate them by number. In my world, these men and women are so awesome that they can only be listed alphabetically. Duke Ellington is on that very short list.

If you think you haven’t heard his stuff – tunes like “Take The A Train,” “Mood Indigo,” “Sophisticated Lady,” “In A Sentimental Mood”… well, you’re wrong; you have. I guarantee it. Check it out.

As you can see from the above graphic, the quarter features Ellington and nothing else but the District’s motto, “Justice For All.”  The coin went into circulation last week. Kudos to the good folks in D.C. for doing the right thing.

And how cool is that?

Mike Gold’s Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mind blatherings can be heard every Monday and Friday on The Point podcasts, available right here at www.michaeldavisworld.com, as well as at getthepointradio.com, comicmix.com, zzcomics.com, and ravenwolfstudios.com. You can subscribe to The Point at iTunes by searching under “The Point Radio.”