U.S. Mint Announces American Women Quarter Series
Over the past two decades, the quarter has seen a variety of innovative new designs due to a series of government programs, including the 50 State Quarters Program and the America the Beautiful Quarters Program. The most recent quarter redesign came this year in the form of the 2021 General Washington Crossing the Delaware quarter.
In 2022, however, a new era of designs will begin with the American Women Quarters Program, which will honor the monumental contributions that women have played in the development of our great nation. As permitted by the Public Law, this program is set to run from 2022 to 2025, with up to five different reverse designs per year. The first two Americans to be honored on the reverses will be literary icon, poet, and civil rights activist, Maya Angelou, as well as physicist and first American woman in space, Doctor Sally Ride.
What is likely the most exciting part of these new quarters for numismatists is the obverse, which is required by law to “maintain a likeness of George Washington, and be design in a manner, such as with incused inscriptions, so as to distinguish it from the obverse design used during the previous quarter programs.” Essentially, this guarantees that the quarter will soon display a new rendition of George Washington on the obverse.
In order to fit in with the theme of honoring America’s most iconic women, the Commission of Fine Arts and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee have recommended the use of Laura Gardin Fraser’s portrait of George Washington that was submitted in 1931. Fraser was a renowned American sculptor whose work has shown up on numerous commemorative coins, including the 1922 Grant Memorial half dollar and the 1926 Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar. At the time, Fraser’s design was recommended by both the Bicentennial Committee and the Commission of Fine Arts, but Secretary of Treasury Andrew Mellon chose John Flanagan’s design to be displayed on the quarter beginning in 1932.
Almost seventy years after Fraser’s original design was declined, it was resurrected and displayed on the 1999-W Commemorative Gold Five Dollar piece that was released to honor the bicentennial of Washington’s passing.
Fraser’s portrait of Washington is not the only design submission for the new 2022 to 2025 quarter though. There are ten other designs created by current US Mint employees and designers from the Artistic Infusion Program that are in the running. These designs feature many unique portraits of Washington, including front-facing busts, side-facing busts, and full-body equestrian examples.
While many would like to see Fraser’s depiction of Washington on the quarter’s obverse, some may feel that it is time to showcase a completely new design by a modern US Mint employee. Regardless of which design is chosen, one thing is certain, it is truly an exciting time to be a collector.
