1931 Washington quarter design competition info

RogerB

Anyone interested in examining the 1931 Washington quarter design competition will find many letters similar to this one that might help in matching designs in the NARA Project file with the sculptors who submitted models. Letters will be found in NARA College Park, MD; RG104 Entry 235 Volumes 555 through 558. These are now available on the Newman Numismatic Portal (NNP).

For the Washington quarter project files look in:

"Case Files on U.S. Coins," Entry A1 328-I, Box 2. These include letters drawings, photos, etc. of many entries. Entrants had the option of requesting return of rejected models.

1. Coins, George Washington Quarter Dollar-Competitive Designs 1931-1932.
2. Coins, George Washington Quarter Dollar-Competitive Designs 1931-1932.
   Coins, Geo. Washington Quarter Dollar Act Approved March 4, 1931.

CaptHenway

The artist

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cole_Caples

MsMorrisine

Caples established his first studio in 1928 at the Masonic Building in Reno, and then the Clay Peters Building in 1929, at which time he specialized in charcoal portraiture.[7][6]

By 1932, Caples moved on to specializing in charcoal drawings of American Indians – the work for which he was best known.[8][6]

RogerB

The Washington quarter committee accepted only sculpted plaster models which limited submissions to trained artists. Each artist was sent an acknowledgement letter (as above) and the committee did not enforce the "hard" October 15 deadline. (The Mint Engraver and his Assistant entered the competition.)

The RG104 Entry 235 Volumes are not indexed, but include a lot of bits of information about the design competition that don't seem to be found elsewhere. (If anyone wants a complete copy of a volume, send me a PM and I'll provide a copy via Dropbox. Each volume is about 500 pages.)