Late author, poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou will be on the U.S. quarter-dollar, the first Black woman to appear on the currency.
The first coin of the American Women Quarters Program is here. As part of a four-year effort honoring prominent women in U.S. history with their own coin, Maya Angelou will be the first Black woman to grace the quarter-dollar.

The quarter shows Angelou on the “tails” side of the quarter, while the new portrait of first president George Washington facing right will be on the “heads” side. With Angelou’s arms outstretched, a bird in flight and rising sun silhouette the writer and poet. The Mint says the images are “inspired by her poetry and symbolic of the way she lived.”

The first coin of the American Women Quarters™ Program is here—the Maya Angelou Quarter! Learn about honoree Maya Angelou and #HerQuarter in our press release at https://t.co/yYzGJpXQDD. Look for it in your change. @USTreasury @smithsonian @womenshistory @DrMayaAngelou @WCPInst pic.twitter.com/GVUpcnbszq

— United States Mint (@usmint) January 10, 2022

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