AMERICAN WOMEN QUARTERS PROGRAM

2022 has seen the beginning of an exciting new program from the US Mint. The American Women Quarters Program will continue through 2025 honoring five women each year for a total of 20. The quarters will feature womens contribution from a variety of fields including suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, space, and the arts. They will include women from ethnically, racially, and geographically diverse backgrounds.

Many have hailed this program for honoring such a large group of women since women on US coinage is so rare. Yet, as numismatists we relish the details and obscure facts surrounding coinage. There have been several women on US coinage in the past.

Ask anyone and they will probably mention by name the most well known circulating coin featuring women, the Susan B. Anthony dollar. Issued from 1979 through 1981, and then again in 1999 the coin was similar in shape and size to the US quarter and never gained traction with the public. The second coin someone might name is the Sacagawea golden dollar. The golden dollar has a copper core clad by manganese brass and began mintage in 2000 for circulation and continues through today. Another recent woman on a US coin is Helen Keller on the 2003 Alabama state quarter. These three are the most common due to their recent production and mintage for circulation as well as collecting.

There are a few US coins from the past made as commemorative coins that feature women, none were intended for circulation. The first was the 1893 Columbian Exposition quarter, commonly known as the Isabella quarter. The 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois celebrated the 400th anniversary of Columbus' arrival in the New World. The Exposition's Board of Lady Managers requested a coin to commemorate the event and wanted the quarter to bear the portrait of Isabella I, Queen of Castile since her insistence had helped fund Columbus's expedition. The next commemorative coin was the 1937 Roanoke Colonization 350th Anniversary half dollar. The coin celebrated the colonization of Roanoke Island, North Carolina and the birth of the first person of English descent born in America, Virginia Dare. The coin features Eleanor Dare holding her daughter Virginia Dare in her arms on the reverse. The final commemorative coin is the 1995 Special Olympics silver dollar. The coin features Eunice Kennedy Shriver as the founder of the Special Olympic Games. Eunice's death was in 2009, meaning she was featured on the coin while still alive.

There is another group of US coins that feature women and it is the largest single group, the First Spouse Gold Coins. There are 38 first spouses featured on these coins. Presidents John Tyler and Woodrow Wilson both had two different wives while in office. Four presidents were bachelors or widowers and they each have a coin featuring Lady Liberty. These coins were all commemorative and never released for circulation.

The excitement of the American Women Quarters Program will have people looking at their change once again and will help draw many new collectors to the numismatic world. As others speak of the first women on US coins you will be able to tell them about our rich historic past of other great women.