These Five Trailblazing American Women Will Be Featured on Quarters in 2025

The U.S. Mint has announced the five trailblazing American women who will be depicted on quarters released in 2025: Ida B. Wells, a journalist and civil rights activist; Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA; Vera Rubin, a pioneering astronomer; Stacey Park Milbern, a disability activist; and Althea Gibson, a legendary golfer and tennis player.

The new coins are part of the American Women Quarters Program, which began in 2022. The initiative was created to circulate 25-cent coins demonstrating “what can be possible with determination, perseverance and the indomitable spirit of American women,” per the program’s website.

“This program has recognized the remarkable legacies of these extraordinary she-roes,” says Ventris C. Gibson, the Mint’s director, in a statement. “These beautiful American Women quarters will be in circulation for decades to come and continue to educate the American people on our incredible honorees.”

To select its honorees, the Mint asked for nominations from the public. The Secretary of the Treasury then narrowed down the list in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s American Women’s History Initiative, the National Women’s History Museum and the Congressional Bipartisan Women’s Caucus.

“We started with quarters in 2022, and we’ve been doing five women a year,” Kristie McNally, the Mint’s deputy director, tells WJLA-TV’s “Good Morning Washington.” “This is our last year. This is the last five women that we’re highlighting, so we’re super excited.”

The five portraits will appear on the reverse side of the coins. Each design will reflect the accomplishments of the women it honors.

Low is depicted beside the Girl Scout’s trefoil logo, which she created and patented. Rubin, set against a backdrop of celestial objects, gazes to the sky. Wells stands beside the words “journalist, suffragist, civil rights activist.” Milbern is shown speaking from her wheelchair beside the words “disability justice,” while Gibson stands behind a net holding a tennis racket.

The front of the quarters will still display George Washington, but not the design created by John Flanagan that’s typically used, which first appeared in 1932. Instead, they will feature sculptor Laura Gardin Fraser’s design, which was passed over in favor of Flanagan’s. While Fraser’s depiction of Washington is similar to Flanagan’s, it shows the president facing the opposite direction.

There are now 20 women who have been honored by the American Women Quarters Program. Elizabeth C. Babcock, the director of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, tells Artnet’s Sarah Cascone that the group includes artists, scientists, astronauts, Indigenous leaders, composers, dancers and activists.

“When you look at how we tell American history now, what kids grow up learning in school and in their textbooks, there are these gaps there. Women are just not represented,” Babcock says. “But we’re 51 percent of the population, and we were there during all those historic moments that shaped American history.”

Julia Binswanger | READ MORE

Julia Binswanger is a freelance arts and culture reporter based in Chicago. Her work has been featured in WBEZ, Chicago magazine, Rebellious magazine and PC magazine.