These five groundbreaking American women will be featured on Quarters in 2025

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

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

“This program has recognized the remarkable legacy of these extraordinary females,” says Ventris C. Gibsondirector of the Mint, in a statement. “These beautiful American women’s residences will be in circulation for decades to come and continue to educate the American people about our incredible honors.”

To select the awards, the Mint solicited nominations from the public. The Treasury Secretary then refined the list in collaboration with the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiativethe National Women’s History Museum and the Congressional Bipartisan Women’s Caucus.

“We started quarters in 2022 and we are treating five women a year,” Kristie McNally, deputy director of the Mint, told WJLA-TV.Good morning Washington.” “This is our last year. These are the final five women we’re highlighting, so we’re super excited.”

The five portraits appear on the reverse of the coins. Each design reflects the achievements of the women it honors.

Low is pictured next to the Girl Scout’s cloverleaf logo, which she created and patented. Rubin, against a backdrop of celestial bodies, stares at the sky. Wells stands next to the words “journalist, suffragist, civil rights activist.” Milbern speaks from her wheelchair next to the words “disability justice,” while Gibson stands behind a net with a tennis racket in his hand.

The front of the quarters will still feature George Washington, but not the design he created John Flanagan that is usually used and first appeared in 1932. Instead they will feature sculptor Laura Gardin Fraser‘s design, which was passed over in favor of Flanagan’s. Although Fraser’s portrayal of Washington is similar to Flanagan’s, it shows the president looking in the opposite direction.

There are now twenty women honored by the American Women Quarters Program. Elizabeth C. Babcock, the director of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museumtells Artnet‘s Sarah Cascone that includes the group of artists, scientists, astronauts, indigenous leaders, composers, dancers and activists.

“If you look at how we tell American history now, what children grow up in school and in their textbooks, there are holes in it. Women are just not represented,” says Babcock. “But we are 51 percent of the population, and we were there during all those historic moments that shaped American history.”