Gloucester symbol may gain national currency

The governor's office nominated the Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial to appear on the next Bay State quarter. (JOHN BLANDING/GLOBE STAFF/FILE 2000)

The national spotlight has not always been kind to Gloucester, from its depiction as a hardscrabble port in the book "The Perfect Storm" to the recent uproar over reports of a teenage pregnancy pact.

Now another image of the city might soon gain national currency. The governor's office nominated Gloucester's Fisherman's Memorial to appear on the next Bay State quarter. The 8-foot-high statue of a fisherman bracing himself at the helm of an unsteady ship beat more than 100 other historic Massachusetts sites in an online poll on the state website. The bronze figure, which the salty air turned a deep shade of sea green, received 109,817 votes, more than four times its closest competitor, Lowell National Historic Park. That's the equivalent of 3.5 votes for each of Gloucester's 30,000 residents.

"I really take this as a tribute from the people of the Commonwealth to Gloucester and the sacrifices Gloucester fishermen have made," Mayor Carolyn Kirk said.

The state also sent the names of three alternative sites to the US Mint, which will decide what appears on the quarter. It will be one of 56 coins issued for US states and territories, starting in 2010. The mint coined more than 1.1 billion of the previous Bay State quarters bearing a statue of a Minuteman. The circulation of that many renderings of the Fisherman's Memorial could reinforce Gloucester's roots, Kirk said.

"We needed to remind the world," she said, "of the true character of our city."