By Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez - January 24, 2022
The United States Mint kicked off the Women on Quarters series with the release of the 2022 Maya Angelou Quarter, which hit circulation in January 2022. As the first of the new quarters in this series, continuing through 2025, the Maya Angelou Quarters have sparked excitement within the numismatic community and well beyond. Many are hailing the innovative series for paying homage to women who have contributed to America’s cultural landscape, while the 2022 Maya Angelou Quarter has been specifically praised for becoming the first circulating quarter to feature an African American woman.
About Maya Angelou
“It is my honor to present our nation’s first circulating coins dedicated to celebrating American women and their contributions to American history,” said Mint Deputy Director Ventris C. Gibson in a press release. “Each 2022 quarter is designed to reflect the breadth and depth of accomplishments being celebrated throughout this historic coin program. Maya Angelou, featured on the reverse of this first coin in the series, used words to inspire and uplift.”
Maya Angelou was born in 1928 and was an American poet and civil rights activist whose early career included a stint as San Francisco’s first African American streetcar conductor. She achieved international acclaim in 1969 upon the publication of her book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, followed by several other career highlights that followed into the 1970s and early 1980s, including serving as a writer for singer Roberta Flack and seeing a supporting role in the award-winning television mini-series Roots.
Americans across all socioeconomic lines were acquainted with Angelou in 1993, when she recited “On the Pulse of Morning” at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration. Angelou continued her vocation as a poet, activist, and speaker for the next two decades. Ever the author, Angelou had written many books and was working on an autobiography when she passed away on May 28, 2014, at the age of 86.
About the 2022 Maya Angelou Quarter
A reverse portrait of Angelou with her arms raised in spiritual exclamation was designed by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program Artist Emily Damstra and engraved by United States Mint Medallic Artist Craig A. Campbell. A flying bird and rising sun, imagery from Angelou’s poetry, grace the surrounding field, which is also emblazoned with the inscriptions “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “MAYA ANGELOU,” “E PLURIBUS UNUM,” and “QUARTER DOLLAR.”
The obverse of the Maya Angelou Quarter is anchored by a numismatic portrait of President George Washington not before seen by many Americans. It was originally designed by Laura Gardin Fraser and was intended to debut on the Washington Quarter in 1932, but then-Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon opted for a Washington bust designed by John Flanagan that became the visage of the first president now most familiar to so many. Fraser’s Washington design did appear on the 1999 Washington $5 gold commemorative, though being a non-circulating coin of such valuable precious-metal content relatively few people have ever seen this coin in-hand, let alone own one.
“I am proud that the new obverse design of George Washington is by one of the most prolific female sculptors of the early 20th century,” said Gibson. “Laura Gardin Fraser was the first woman to design a U.S. commemorative coin, and her work is lauded in both numismatic and artistic circles. Ninety years after she intended for it to do so, her obverse design will fittingly take its place on the quarter.” Fraser’s Washington head will be seen as the common obverse on all Women on Quarters issues to come.
About the Women on Quarters Series
The Women on Quarters series was authorized under Public Law 116-330 and stipulates that the United States Mint will release five different quarters each year from 2022 through 2025 honoring the contributions and accomplishments of notable American women. The program will meander through a wide variety of these female trailblazers across various ethnicities, geographies, and disciplines ranging from civil rights and suffrage to science, government, and the arts.
Four other Women on Quarters issues will be released in 2022. These will include tributes to first female astronaut Dr. Sally Ride, first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation and Native American activist Wilma Mankiller, New Mexico suffrage leader and Santa Fe public school superintendent Nina Otero-Warren, and Chinese American Hollywood star Anna May Wong.
