Forget 2002 and Olympic glory. Two weeks of intense media coverage of sports that normally reside in the 3 a.m. time slot on ESPN2 and it's over. A decade later, the only people who remember it happened here will be retailers still trying to unload warehouses full of officially licensed souvenir T-shirts.

No, the date that will launch Utah's ascension into America's collective consciousness will be Oct. 1, 2007. That's when Utah will rise up, puff out its chest, clear its throat and announce to the world once and for all, "Hey! We're OK."

That's when we get our own new quarter. And deciding what the special two bits will show and say about the 45th state is no small change.

"What do people associate Utah with, what do Utahns revere the most about their state, what do we want to be recognized by?" asks Salt Lake City coin dealer H. Robert Campbell, national president of the American Numismatic Association, the 30,000 member coin collecting hobby group chartered by Congress. "It's a big deal."

The U.S. Mint's "50 State Quarters" program, commemorating each of the United States with state-specified images on the reverse of George Washington's bust, has exceeded all federal estimations for success barely two years into the 10-year series. With the special quarters issued in the order that states ratified the Constitution and joined the Union, the first general circulation state quarters from 1999 have become collectors items worth hoarding.

"The response is unprecedented in the United States," says Campbell. "For the first time since the 1960s, anybody, even kids, can find something in their pocket change that is worth more than face value."

At his All About Coins shop in Salt Lake City's Sugar House neighborhood, Campbell says a circulated 1999 Delaware or Pennsylvania quarter will command 50 cents from dealers, while mint condition versions can fetch up to a dollar. The first eight coins in the series -- Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland and South Carolina -- have produced a windfall for the U.S. Mint, which is cranking out as many as 10 million new quarters daily at factories in Philadelphia and Denver.

"Since about the time we put out the Connecticut coin at the end of 1999, we have consistently minted over a billion for each state," says Michael White, spokesman for the Mint in Washington, D.C. "Each quarter costs us 5 cents to make, so that's 20 cents profit on each one and we expect to return $6 billion to $8 billion to the Treasury."

And in the curiously American mix of capitalism and patriotism, all the money soaked up by Uncle Sam from the commemorative, collectible quarters goes to retire the national debt.

Ubiquitous Popularity: No one can fully explain the unexpected popularity of the new state quarters -- the Mint estimates some 100 million to 160 million people are now collecting the special-edition 25-cent pieces from their pocket change. In part, it may be because American currency has been notoriously conservative in its design, only recently giving greenbacks a face lift and unveiling the Sacagawea dollar coin. The new gold piece has been slowed from widespread circulation because it also has enthusiast appeal -- the image of the Shoshone Indian woman carrying a baby is the first coin in U.S. history to make direct eye contact with its holder.

It is that same eye-catching difference that helped spawn interest in the 50 State Quarters. In the front pockets and purses of Americans is now a federally funded state tourism advertising campaign that jingles with boundless possibility.

It follows that at some governors' offices around the country, the lobbying has already begun on what should best symbolize each great state, with travel boosters to history buffs lining up to make sure their two-cents worth is heard before their governor submits design candidates to the Mint's engravers.

"How each state goes about deciding what its design is going to be is starting to become a political minefield," says Steve Bobbitt, spokesman for the American Numismatic Association, headquartered in Colorado Springs. "The governor of New York has to make up his mind by the middle of next month whether to go ahead with a Statue of Liberty design, which is popular in New York City but not really favored by upstate New Yorkers."

Since Utah and the surrounding Intermountain states were among the last to join the Union, the quarters commemorating these western states are not due out until 2007 and 2008, the final two years of the series.

Eighteen months before the state quarter's issue date (a new quarter is released about every 2 1/2 months, or five times yearly) the U.S. Mint will notify the state's governor to begin a selection process of the governor's own choosing to produce candidate designs.

"Some governors rely on their state arts commission, some solicit ideas from recognized artists, some states invite everybody, and in Massachusetts the governor just invited all elementary school kids to do it," says White of the Mint. "They give us design concepts, then our staff of engravers sketch the concepts into three to five candidates that have what we call coinability, something that is dignified and technically doable."

The Mint sketches then are critiqued and modified by two federal panels: the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee and the U.S. Fine Arts Commission. Once cleared, the designs are sent back to the governor for final selection, with the secretary of the Treasury having authority for final approval of the state's selected design.

No Religious Designs: Congress passed a law in 1997 that set down design criteria for the state quarters' images, and those criteria narrow Utah's choices. While dictating that the design "shall have broad appeal to the citizens of the state and avoid controversial subjects," the federal criteria specify that "inappropriate design concepts" include depictions of religious events, icons or figures. The Mint will frown on any design reference to an organization "whose membership or ownership is not universal." State seals and flags are outright forbidden.

Utah translation: Bye-bye beehive. Give Brigham the boot. Toss out the Temple.

Eliminating anything that connotes Mormonism, the state's predominant religion that has defined much of its place in American history, is already a hot topic at coin collector club meetings around the Wasatch Front.

"We've had every one of the arguments," says Campbell. "You could argue that the [LDS] pioneers were part of the westward movement and compare them to the Pilgrims, because we don't associate the Pilgrims with a religion. But you know what would happen if they picked something to do with the Mormon church. I can just imagine the letters to the editor. It would be a field day for anti-Mormons."

Avoiding Controversy: Mint spokesman White says the federal criteria's restrictions "are designed to avoid that kind of controversy. We have made a real, honest effort to involve the citizens of each state to decide what they think is best, and have a chance to teach a lot more history to young people who may not be familiar with the state."

Campbell, himself a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said in talking with customers and other Utah coin collectors, the "local favorite" design would depict the July 24, 1847, arrival of the Mormons in the Salt Lake Valley, with LDS prophet Brigham Young standing in a wagon overlooking the faithful's new home. Running a close second in suggestions is an image of the Salt Lake City LDS Temple.

But he doubts either will be seriously considered for the 2007 Utah quarter.

"Probably the one to beat, the one that stays away from religious connotations and has probably the most universal appeal is going to be the joining of the transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit," says the national coin collector leader. "That's the scene that I think is going to win."

Which would suit Golden Spike National Monument Superintendent Bruce Powell just fine.

"I admit I am a bit biased, but I do agree this is a pretty important and special place for the nation and the world," Powell says from the low hill west of Brigham City where two steam locomotives met May 10, 1869, to link America together, triggering an epoch that forever altered time, space and communication.

Another image of the taming of the western frontier is already being touted as a possibility. Leaders of the National Pony Express Association are urging members to contact governors in the eight states containing the cross-country mail trail and urge them to consider a picture of a Pony Express rider and horse galloping at full tilt.

"It would be a lasting legacy," says NPEA Vice President Fred Abernethy of Salt Lake City. "I figure we've got eight chances to make our case and we might just possibly swing it."

Pleasing Everybody: But, like upstate New Yorkers and the Statue of Liberty, downstate Utahns don't have much connection to the overland trails or the driving of the last spike in northern Utah. A more likely quarter candidate from southern Utah would be Delicate Arch, the sandstone rainbow that adorns state license plates. (New Hampshire will be the first state to feature a rock formation on its quarter later this year with a depiction of "Old Man of the Mountain.") John Wesley Powell's historic expedition down the Colorado River would be another contender from the southern forces.

Indeed, the possibilities for the image on Utah's new quarter could fill Scrooge McDuck's vault. The Utah Numismatic Society, the Ogden Coin Club and the Trails West Artifact Society have already produced coin-like "medals" of Utah images annually during the past 20 years that may serve as prototypes to the state quarter.

The specially minted medals, which are not legal tender but collector's pieces, have featured engravings of Chief Blackhawk, dinosaurs, alpine skiing, the state Capitol in Salt Lake City, the territorial Capitol in Fillmore, the Bingham Canyon copper mine, the Eagle Gate archway, the Lucin Cutoff rail line, Saltair dance hall, television inventor Philo Farnsworth and Delicate Arch. Others have shown subjects that may be taboo under the Mint's state quarter design guidelines: a beehive and Father Escalante's expedition.

Choosing a Slogan: Another debate percolating over the new Utah quarter is what it should say. Since the official Utah slogan, "The Beehive State," would be rejected because it is a traditional symbol of Mormonism's virtue of collective action, a new motto is needed. Perhaps the popular Utah refrain, "If You Don't Like It, Then Leave," could upstage New Hampshire's upcoming "Live Free Or Die" quarter.

And that's another problem. By the time the last 10 states get to express themselves numismatically, will there be anything left that hasn't been done before? Horses, rocks, trees, rivers, birds, buildings, boats and produce have already been emblazoned on the first commemorative quarters. The Inland West is batting cleanup. And that may make it harder to hit a home run.