American Women Quarters, 2022-2025 | CoinWeek

By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek Notes …..
 

In 2022, the United States Mint launched a new series of circulating commemorative quarter dollar coins. The quarter dollar, which has not had a consistent reverse design year-to-year since 1998, was used to celebrate accomplished women who have made their marks throughout American history in a program spanning from 2022 through 2025.

The United States Congress authorized the American Women Quarters Program by passing Public Law 116-330. The exact language of the law calls for the production of quarter designs that are “emblematic of the accomplishments and contributions of … prominent woman of the United States, and may include contributions to the United States in a wide spectrum of accomplishments and field, including but not limited to suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, space, and arts, and should honor women from ethnically, racially, and geographically diverse backgrounds.”

From a numismatic standpoint, the program has been a spectacular success. The honorees reflect a wide range of accomplishments, from movie stars to scientists, to civil rights leaders, to women who achieved historic firsts in important fields. Several designs have been innovative and visionary.

American Women Quarters Program Also Honors Famous Sculptress

Beyond the five annual honorees, the American Women Quarters Program also honors American sculptress Laura Gardin Fraser (1889-1966).

The prolific Fraser’s prior coin design credits include:

• The reverse of the 1921 Alabama Centennial Half Dollar
• The 1922 Grant Memorial Half Dollar and gold dollar
• The 1925 Fort Vancouver Centennial Half Dollar
• The 1926 Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar (with her husband James Earle Fraser)

To mark the bicentennial of President George Washington’s birth, Congress held a competition to design a commemorative coin in his honor. Laura Gardin Fraser, John Flanagan, and Thomas Cremona were among those who submitted designs. Fraser’s design was favored over all others by the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), but Treasury Secretary Andrew Melon preferred John Flanagan’s design, and used his prerogative to overrule the judges.

The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC), which pushed for adopting the Fraser reverse, saw its use as the “heads” side of the American Women Quarters Program as the correction of a historic injustice. The American Women Quarters obverse is the second use of this design; its first use was on the 1999 Washington Commemorative $5 gold coin issued to mark the 200th Anniversary of the first president’s death.

Design

Common Obverse:

The common obverse of all American Women Quarters depicts a portrait of President and Founding Father George Washington, sculpted initially by Laura Gardin Fraser to mark his 200th birthday. Though her work was a recommended design for the 1932 quarter, then-Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon ultimately selected the familiar design by artist John Flanagan. Laura Gardin Fraser’s initials LGF are in the bust truncation. The word LIBERTY arcs clockwise along the top rim, above Washington’s head. The motto IN GOD / WE / TRUST is inscribed in three centered lines top to bottom on the left, behind Washington’s hair. The date and mintmark are on the right, beneath Washington’s chin.

Edge:

The edges of all American Women Quarters are reeded with 119 reeds.

Coin Specifications

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