If you find yourself holding a Maya Angelou quarter, may you be reminded of her words, ‘be certain that you do not die without having done something wonderful for humanity.’”
—Barbara Lee
January 11, 2022
The gist:
The coin is the first in the American Women Quarters Program, a four-year effort. The Mint will issue five quarters a year to honor women in women’s suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, and the arts. This year’s other honorees are Sally Ride, the first American woman in space; Wilma Mankiller, a Native American activist; Nina Otero-Warren, a leader in New Mexico’s suffrage movement; and Anna May Wong, the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood.
Representative Barbara Lee, a California Democrat, sponsored a bill “promoting the new coins’ creation, said in a statement last year that she was proud to have led an effort honoring the “phenomenal” women who were often overlooked in American history.”
The coin goes into circulation this week!
The faxx:
- The Mint has previously issued coins featuring Black women, including a commemorative gold coin in 2017 that depicted Lady Liberty as a Black woman.
- The suffragist Susan B. Anthony was the first woman to be featured on a circulating U.S. coin; silver dollars with her image were first released in 1979.
- A dollar coin featuring Sacagawea, the Shoshone woman who helped Lewis and Clark across the plains, was produced from 2000 to 2008.
- According to the Treasury Department, on paper currency, the abolitionist Harriet Tubman is expected to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill by 2030.
Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press
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