American Women quarters

The American Women quarters program will be a series of quarters featuring prominent women in U.S. history, commemorating the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The United States Mint will issue up to five designs each year from 2022 to 2025 for up to 20 total designs. One woman will be honored on the reverse of each coin, selected for "contributions to the United States in a wide spectrum of accomplishments and fields, including but not limited to suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, space, and arts." The obverse will depict George Washington with a new design.
The program was authorized by the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 (), sponsored by Representatives Barbara Lee and Anthony Gonzalez. The original proposal was for 56 quarters, honoring one woman from each state and territory, but with a set of circulating coins intended to be released in 2026 for the United States Semiquincentennial, it was amended to be shorter. It replaced an alternative proposal of quarters featuring animals or endangered species. One of the five quarters in that set will also feature a woman. It will be followed in 2027–2030 with a series depicting youth sports.
It succeeds the America the Beautiful quarters. Some coin collectors were critical of the "seemingly unending" proposal to continue to issue five new quarter designs every year for a third decade. Many numismatists are more interested in redesigns of other denominations and less frequent releases.
Designs.
Obverse.
Laura Gardin Fraser's portrait of George Washington, which was originally submitted in 1931, was selected by the Commission of Fine Arts and Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee to appear on the obverse of the American Women quarters. The right-facing bust had been used for the 1999 commemorative gold half eagle for the 200th anniversary of Washington's death.
Reverse.
The first honorees in 2022 will be Maya Angelou and Sally Ride. Angelou will be the first Black woman and Ride will be the first LGBT person to appear on circulating US currency. The United States Secretary of the Treasury will select the women featured for the series. Designs will be selected through a process with the Smithsonian Institution's American Women's History Initiative, the National Women's History Museum, and the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues.