In 1999, 22 years ago this month, the world changed for the US. The US Mint had just announced a substantive change in our change. For the first time since 1932, the design on the circulating quarter wouldn’t be the familiar spread eagle. The modification would be epic.
Well, that’s not entirely accurate. During our nation’s Bi-Centennial in 1976, the Mint changed the quarter’s reverse for just that year to include a colonial drummer instead of the eagle. People were fanatical, pulling the quarters out of their change and filling jars with them. It was, after all, the biggest change in US coinage anyone could remember.
With that in mind, and after the 23-year hiatus from 1976 to 1999, the Mint tried it again with the 50 State Quarter Series. People again went berserk. Everyone, especially kids, collected them. Lesson plans in schools were created around them. Even adults checked their change to find and put the quarters in classic “coin books.” It was one of the wisest moves the Mint had ever made....
That state quarter series ended in 2008. Recognizing the gold mine they had, the Mint continued different design quarters with the “America The Beautiful” series. The public liked them but not to the extent of the statehood quarters. After all, one can only go back to the well so often.
The America The Beautiful quarters came to an end earlier this year. So, what’s in store for 2022 and beyond? In a word – women. In fact, the next four years will be the years of women.
Come January, the first of five new 2022 quarters will roll off Mint presses. While other recent quarters have featured a montage of sometimes cryptic images inherent to the states, there won’t be any questions about who or what the new quarters salute. The new series will also afford a unique collecting opportunity especially of interest to young women.
Each of the upcoming quarters will honor a woman of note in the US. The first coin out of the chute in the American Woman Quarters Series will showcase celebrated writer, poet and activist Maya Angelou. It includes an image of Angelou with arms outstretched in front of the silhouette of a bird reflective of her famous and stirring memoir, “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.”
Next, is scientist, astronaut and first woman in space, Dr. Sally Ride. She is portrayed in her flight suit in front of the earth from a perspective taken in space. After her will be Wilma Mankiller. An American Indian, Mankiller became the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. In 1998, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Next autumn, Nino Otero-Warren will grace the fourth quarter. A leader and activist in the suffrage movement she was the first female superintendent of Santa Fe public schools in New Mexico.
The year ends with a quarter celebrating Ann May Wong, considered the first Chinese-American movie star to gain international fame. Wong starred in both silent and sound films. She was also considered one of the world’s “Best Dressed Women.” She’s featured in her famous “flapper” look as if she’s peering through a lit Hollywood marquee.
Those are the first five quarters in the new series. But, there’s one more female aspect that many won’t notice. The revised portrait of George Washington on the obverse is noticeably updated. You can credit that to sculptor Laura Gardin Fraser.
Fraser was one of the most prolific female sculptors of the early 20th century. Her original image of Washington was strongly considered for the Washington quarter we know so well. However, the image she created faced right. in 1932, then-Treasury Secretary Mellon chose the design that faced left. Go figure.
The new quarters will begin being issued in January. They will circulate in cash registers and be sold in special sets released by the Mint. A great holiday gift idea would be coin albums designed especially for them by Whitman and other companies. After that, the quarters can be given as future gifts to fill the holes.
One last thought. School teachers should log onto the Mint website www.USMint.gov. There they will find compelling lesson plans utilizing the new Women’s quarters in 2022.
For more collecting advice, visit www.peterexford.blogspot.com