PIERRE, S.D., April 21 (UPI) -- The winning design for South Dakota's state quarter will feature a pheasant flying above the U.S. presidents on Mount Rushmore, Gov. Mike Rounds said.
Rounds announced the results of nearly 172,000 votes cast by state residents in a straw poll to select one of five proposed designs for the special quarter to be circulated in November 2006.
"As stated by the narrative, the winning design is framed by two single heads of wheat, with a Chinese ring-necked pheasant featured in the foreground and Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the background," Rounds said.
The winning design received 38.3 percent of the votes cast. The other state quarter designs featured Mount Rushmore or a buffalo or a pheasant.
Nearly 72,000 of the votes were cast via the Internet and about 100,000 votes cast at banks and credit unions.
A U.S. Mint proof set for the South Dakota quarter will be available in January.
