A change is coming to your pocket change next year. The U.S. Mint has launched the American Women Quarters Program, which will “celebrate the accomplishments and contributions made by women to the development and history of our country.” Over the next four years, they’ll be releasing coins featuring 20 women and the first two lucky ladies will be poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou and astronaut Sally Ride.
Their quarters will be issued beginning in January 2022 and their images will be featured on the tail side, as the head side still has to show George Washington. It’s against the law to depict a living person on a coin design, so all the women in the series will be historical figures and the U.S. Mint is expected to announce more honorees in the coming months.
Maya Angelou will be featured on seven different designs and each one includes a representation of her autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” Dr. Sally Ride was a NASA astronaut who became the first American woman to fly into space in 1983 and five designs will honor her role as a trailblazer and an educator. Each one will feature her or the Challenger, the shuttle that took her into space.
Source: ABC News