The U.S. Mint has begun shipping a new quarter featuring writer, poet, performer, social activist, and teacher Maya Angelou, who becomes the first Black woman to be featured on the quarter. Coins featuring additional honorees will begin shipping later this year and through 2025. The quarters are part of the American Women Quarters Program, with reverse (tails) designs emblematic of the accomplishments and contributions of trailblazing American women.
"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. "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."
The reverse side, designed by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program artist Emily Damstra and sculpted by United States Mint medallic artist Craig A. Campbell, depicts Angelou with her arms uplifted. Behind her are a bird in flight and a rising sun, "images inspired by her poetry and symbolic of the way she lived, the U.S. Mint said. The obverse (heads) depicts a portrait of George Washington originally composed and sculpted by Laura Gardin Fraser to mark Washington's 200th birthday.