The U.S. Mint revealed on Monday the designs for the reverse side of quarters featuring former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and former aviation pilot Bessie Coleman among five women to be issued next year.
The 2023 coins will highlight the legacy of a wide range of influential women as the American Women Quarters Program marks its second year. Also included in its collection will be Mexican American journalist Jovita Idar, Hawaiian composer Edith Kanakaʻole, and Native American ballerina Maria Tallchief.
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“I am pleased to announce the designs of the 2023 American Women Quarters,” Mint Director Ventris Gibson said in a press release. “These beautiful designs honor the achievements of these amazing women and add to the Mint’s rich history of rendering the history of our Nation in enduring examples of numismatic art.”
The wait is over! We are pleased to announce the designs for the 2023 coins in the American Women Quarters™ Program, honoring the achievements of Bessie Coleman, Edith Kanaka’ole, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jovita Idar, and Maria Tallchief: https://t.co/gv7bYbdPHa #HerQuarter pic.twitter.com/JZqeL9pc42
— United States Mint (@usmint) August 29, 2022
Roosevelt, who served as first lady for 12 years while her husband, Franklin Roosevelt, was in office, will be depicted against a backdrop of a globe to honor her legacy as a diplomat and an image of scales meant to represent her devotion to justice and the inscription “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
The image of Coleman will showcase her in her flight suit and the inscription “6.19.1921,” which commemorates the day she earned her pilot’s license, becoming the first black woman to do so. An image of a plane and clouds are also included on the coin.
Coleman was also celebrated last week by American Airlines, which held an entirely black and female flight crew in her honor in Dallas.
“She bravely broke down barriers within the world of aviation and paved the path for many to follow,” American Airlines said in a statement.
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The program, which was approved in 2021, is scheduled to continue to honor five women each year through 2025.
The legacies of poet Maya Angelou, astronaut Sally Ride, Hollywood actress Anna May Wong, suffragist Nina Otero-Warren, and first female Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller were acknowledged by the mint during its first batch in January.
