Unique and giftable, the US Mint will offer ornaments at noon ET today. The decorations honor five quarters of 2023: Bessie Coleman, Edith Kanakaʻole, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jovita Idar, and Maria Tallchief.
The second-year releases are part of the U.S. Mint's four-year American Women Quarters™ Program. This series honours American women who contributed to suffrage, civil rights, abolition, governance, humanities, science, space, and the arts.
Last year, Maya Angelou, Dr. Sally Ride, Wilma Mankiller, Nina Otero-Warren, and Anna May Wong received similar decorations. The Philadelphia Mint minted each quarter in this year's decorations to uncirculated grade, as previous year.
The first African American and Native American woman pilot was Bessie Coleman. Her ornament features a bird's-eye view of the sky with two Curtiss JN-4 ("Jenny") planes she flew, her nicknames "Queen Bess" and "Brave Bessie," and her helmet, goggles, and flight wings.
Edith Kanakaʻole, a native Hawaiian composer, preserved her culture and customs. This ornament celebrates the person by depicting the sky, land/ocean, and lifecycles as knowledge homes. The Hawaiian State flower, the yellow hibiscus, is shown among traditional Hawaiian instruments, a triton shell, and a palapalʻai fern.
Roosevelt, leader, reformer, first lady, and novelist. Roosevelt's ornament has doves, hands grasping a globe, and scales of justice to represent her worldwide human rights, diplomacy, and conflict resolution activism. She wrote several books, essays, lectures, and newspaper columns, and a ring of pearls honors her most famous jewelry.
Mexican-American suffragist, activist, teacher, and journalist Jovita Idar. Idar gave schoolchildren school materials, clothing, and nourishment, shown by a stack of books and shirt. A white cross arm band (La Cruz Blanca) symbolizes her volunteer nursing during the Mexican Revolution, while newspapers and a typewriter reflect her writing and journalism.
America's first prima ballerina, Maria Tallchief. A flaming ring surrounding the coin and feathered head piece honor Tallchief's "Firebird," one of her most famous roles, while a shimmering purple tutu honors her starring role as the Sugar Plum Fairy, who popularized "The Nutcracker" in the U The border design, inspired by Osage patterns, honors her origins and her National Medal of Arts achievement.