ELLENDALE &045; Dean Jirousek is about to make some money.

He’s not your typical stock-market investor. He’s no calculator-punching financier.

Jirousek, an Ellendale dairy and vegetable farmer, is a coin collector, and soon to be part of an effort to design the Minnesota state quarter.

Jirousek was one of seven statewide chosen to give public input on the design for Minnesota’s state quarter, which will be minted in 2005.

&uot;This is as close to creating history as a person can be,&uot; Jirousek, 49, said.

The dairy farmer has been interested in collecting coins since his early childhood.

&uot;When I was 5 years old there wasn’t as much going on for 5-year-olds as there is today,&uot; he said. &uot;My first-grade teacher suggested to all the parents that they find their children hobbies. So my parents bought me a blue Whitman coin holder.&uot;

The blue felt coin holder spawned a passion.

&uot;I’d go around looking for the coins to fill every date in that holder,&uot; he said. &uot;You did it by going through your parents’ pocket change.&uot;

As he grew older, the change game changed.

&uot;Forty-four years later, I collect coins much differently,&uot; he said. &uot;I look for extremely high-quality, rare coins.&uot;

Friday afternoon, when he was told that he’d been selected for the committee, Jirousek had a hard time containing his excitement.

&uot;I’m just having an adrenaline rush,&uot; he said. &uot;I just want to yell for joy.&uot;

Calling himself an &uot;advanced&uot; coin collector, Jirousek spends a great deal of time researching, trading and talking about coins. He’s a member of both the Owatonna and the Rochester coin clubs.

His love for coins was unmistakable as he spoke Friday.

&uot;I put a lot of energy into my hobby,&uot; he said &uot;I’m dedicated to my love of farming, but my biggest passion outside of farming is coin collecting.

&uot;Just to be a part in this is so exciting,&uot; he added.

In 1997, a congressional act began the 10-year, 50-state commemorative quarter minting period. States would get to have their own design on the side opposite George Washington’s profile on the quarter. Five states’ quarters are released annually. The first release in the decade-long program was in 1999.

Jirousek said the program has done great things for the coin collecting hobby as a whole.

&uot;I’ve been a big supporter of the state quarter program,&uot; Jirousek said. &uot;It’s renewed a lot of interest in the hobby.&uot;

He likes the idea of having 50 quarters representing the mantras of the different states. Jirousek said his background as a dairy farmer is, in a way, representative of what Minnesota is known for. But when it comes to the quarter design, he said he is open to any option.

&uot;We’ve already been talking about what we think of when we think of Minnesota,&uot; he said. &uot;Sure, we’re the North Star State. We definitely are known for the Great Lakes and our agriculture.&uot;

Jirousek and the other public members will sit alongside politicians, the director of the Minnesota Historical Society, the executive director of the state arts board and the commissioner of education.

The commission will solicit ideas and forward five quarter designs to the Mint. After the Mint’s review and a period of public comment, Gov. Tim Pawlenty will present his choice to the U.S. treasury secretary.

The other public members are:

-Brekken Armstrong, a student from Maple Grove;

-Tammy Diemert-Mayo, who works at a bank and operates a farm in Sherburn;

-William Himmelwright, the owner of a coin shop in Minneapolis;

-Ward Kaiser, a civics teacher from Cloquet;

-Mark Meffert, a Minnesota House employee from Eagan;

-Shane Weber, a kindergarten teacher from St. Bonifacius.

(Contact Peter Cox at peter.cox @albertleatribune.com or 379-3439. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)