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US Mint will soon feature women on quarters

Writer Maya Angelou and astronaut Sally Ride will be the first to appear on the coins.
Posted at 1:14 PM, May 11, 2021
and last updated 2021-05-11 15:39:03-04

The U.S. Mint is celebrating women by rolling out a series of quarters featuring iconic women over the next four years.

The agency says that famed writer Maya Angelou and trailblazing astronaut Dr. Sally Ride will be the first distinguished American women celebrated on the reverse of the program’s circulating quarters.

As authorized by Public Law 116-330 - the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 - the Mint will issue circulating and numismatic quarter-dollar coins with reverse (tails) designs emblematic of the accomplishments and contributions of a prominent American woman beginning in January 2022.

Contributions may come from a wide spectrum of fields including, but not limited to, suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, space, and the arts.

The women will be on the reverse side of the coin. George Washington will remain on the front.

The U.S. Mint is asking people to submit who else they'd like to see on the coin. The suggestions must be women who have passed. 

  • Originally published by Alex Livingston, Simon Kaufman at Newsy.