The US Mint launched a new quarter series in 2022 to honor women whose achievements contributed to the development of the United States. Part of the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 (Public Law 116-330), it is scheduled to run for four years. Each year, five new reverse profiles are slated for release, and each will be struck for approximately 10 weeks. In accordance with the act, no living person is featured on the coins.
New Obverse Design
The common obverse for this series is a right-facing George Washington bust by acclaimed 20th-century sculptor Laura Gardin Fraser. She was the first woman to design a US coin by winning the competition for the 1921 Alabama Centennial Half Dollar. Her drawing submitted in 1931 for a new quarter design linked to the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth in 1932 was chosen by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. The commission described Gardin Fraser's fresh design as:
"[embodying] those high qualities of the man's character which have given him a place among the great of the world... Simplicity, directness, and nobility characterize it. The design has style and elegance... The Commission believes that this design would present to the people of this country the Washington whom they revere."
However, US Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon chose the Washington profile submitted by sculptor John Flanagan. It remained the quarter obverse, with some slight modifications, for 89 years. In 1999, the US Mint used Gardin Fraser's Washington bust motif for the 1999 $5 gold coin that commemorated the 200th anniversary of Washington's death.
History-Making Series
The US Women Quarter Series represents the first time the US Mint is focusing a coin series on women and their contributions to American history. Each woman profiled gives collectors a terrific opportunity to learn about ground-breaking achievements in a wide variety of fields, including suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, space and the arts. The Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 further stipulates the US women chosen for these quarters from 2022-2025 represent ethnically, racially and geographically diverse backgrounds.
When it comes to coinage art, each one-year-only reverse design showcases the talents of the new generation of designers commissioned under the US Mint's innovative Artistic Infusion Program and sculpted by its Medallic Artists. Ideal for hobbyists of all ages, the US Women Quarter series continues the 21st century's renaissance in coin collecting that got a head start with the 1999 launch of the Statehood quarters program, followed by the National Park quarter series that ended in January 2021.
How to Collect US Women Quarters
Whether you are assembling a complete date and mint mark collection or prefer to collect a single coin, Littleton Coin Company is here to help! You'll find single issues and sets, plus an archival-quality folder and album made in the USA especially for this series.
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