The odds still favor the Grand Canyon as the winnowing process continues toward final selection of a design for Arizona’s state quarter. But don’t count out the saguaro cactus or the Navajo Codetalkers.

A commission appointed by Gov. Janet Napolitano this week screened 19 preliminary designs offered by the U.S. Mint and selected five for final consideration. The mint’s designers produced the 19 preliminary designs to illustrate five narratives previously submitted by the commission.

One of the chosen five preliminary designs shows a multi-rayed sun peeking over a rim of the Grand Canyon, with numerous promontories visible inside the vast chasm.

A second alternative combines much of the first design’s Grand Canyon image with a separate view of a Saguaro amid other desert plants. It has a “Grand Canyon State” banner crossing much of the quarter’s equator to separate the two images of scenes that in real life would be located at least 200 miles distant.

FOX11AZ.com