Owner Comments:
The Tennessee quarter, the first quarter of 2002 and sixteenth in the series, celebrates the state's contributions to our nation's musical heritage. The design incorporates musical instruments and a score with the inscription "Musical Heritage." Three stars represent Tennessee's three regions and the instruments symbolize each region's distinct musical style.
The fiddle represents the Appalachian music of east Tennessee, the trumpet stands for the blues of west Tennessee for which Memphis is famous, and the guitar is for central Tennessee, home to Nashville, the capital of country music.
On March 27, 2000, Governor Don Sundquist announced a statewide contest for students, artists, and citizens to submit design concepts by June 1, 2000. The state received nearly 1,000 submissions. A seven-person Tennessee Coin Commission that the Governor created sent its three favorite concepts to the Mint on June 28, 2000. These included Musical Heritage, Ratification of the 19th Amendment and Sequoyah, the creator of the Cherokee writing system. On June 26, 2001, the Mint provided Governor Sundquist with five approved renditions of the concepts, from which he chose "Musical Heritage."