Quarter reflects Maya's impact

If you soon find yourself holding a quarter with a lovely image of Maya Angelou on the back, her arms spread along an eagle’s wings, remember her words:

"Be certain that you do not die without having done something wonderful for humanity."

That, she did.

Probably the woman most often quoted today for inspiration (with the possible exception of Mother Teresa), poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou is the first in a series of famous women to be depicted on new U.S. quarters for the next four years.

The American Women Quarters Program honors the accomplishments and contributions of women to the nation’s development and history, with five new designs each year.

Numismatics and other collectors know temporary designs on the back of quarters are nothing new. Special commemorations such as the Bicentennial, famous figures, states and flags, and other pieces of U.S. history have graced the obverse of coins throughout the last century. But women history-makers and influencers have been conspicuously missing.

So U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee began working with the U.S. Treasury Department in 2017 to correct that, culminating in the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020. So far only this year’s have been announced by the U.S. Mint, but the idea is to feature women contributors from a variety of fields such as science, suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, space, and the arts.

In addition to Angelou, 2022’s list includes physicist Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space; Wilma Mankiller, the first woman chief of the Cherokee Nation; Nina Otero-Warren, a leader in New Mexico’s suffrage movement and Santa Fe public schools’ first female superintendent; and Anna May Wong, Hollywood’s first Chinese-American star.

While few know it, coins featuring women’s contributions started more than a century ago. Laura Gardin Fraser, a prolific early 20th century sculptor, became the first woman to design a U.S. coin when her Alabama Centennial Half Dollar was issued in 1921. The Mint later used her George Washington design on a 1999 gold commemorative coin marking the 200th anniversary of his death.

The mint works with the Smithsonian Institution, National Women’s History Museum, National Archives, National Academy of Sciences, National Gallery of Art and others to develop a pool of honorees and design concepts for the series. A citizens advisory committee makes recommendations from among those choices, and the Secretary of Treasury approves the final selections.

To learn more about the American Women Quarters Program see usmint.gov.

Sholeh Patrick, JD, is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Email: sholeh@cdapress.com