The Quarter Dollar is a United States coin worth 25 cents. From its inception until 1964, the denomination was issued in silver; it underwent several design changes, including finally the silver Washington quarter (1932 - 1964) featuring the first President of the United States on the obverse and the American Eagle on the reverse, issued then until 1998 in copper-nickel. The U.S Mint then embarked on several long term projects: the State Quarters series of 50 coins featuring each State from 1999 to 2008; in 2009, a six-coin series represented the District of Columbia and five US territories, and then the America the Beautiful program (2010 - 2021). After a brief interlude with a Washington commemorative quarter, the U.S. Mint started the American Women Quarters program in 2022.
Running until 2025, the program honours five women on five reverse designs per year, 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 depicts George Washington with a 1931 design by Laura Gardin Fraser.
The Wilma Mankiller Quarter is the third coin in the American Women Quarters Program; it was released on 6 June 2022.
Wilma Mankiller was born in the Cherokee Nation in 1945. After drought devastated her family’s land in the 1950s, her family was moved to a housing project in California, where the adolescent Mankiller experienced culture shock, exacerbated by poverty and racism. After she returned to the Cherokee Nation in 1977, she founded the Community Development Department for the Cherokee Nation. She led the creation of community water systems and rehabilitation of houses during the administration of Principal Chief Ross Swimmer. In 1983, Swimmer named Mankiller his running mate in his bid for re-election. When they won, Mankiller became the first woman elected deputy chief of the Cherokee Nation. After Swimmer left office to lead the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, she became principal chief.
Mankiller was elected chief in 1987, and four years later, re-elected in a landslide. She tripled her tribe’s enrolment, doubled employment, and built new housing, health centres, and children’s programs in northeast Oklahoma. Under her leadership, infant mortality declined and educational levels rose. Her leadership on social and financial issues made her tribe a national role model. After leaving office in 1995, she remained a strong voice worldwide for social justice, native people, and women. Mankiller received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998, the highest honor given to civilians in the United States. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993.
Wilma Mankiller Quarter Dollars issued in 2022 have now been in circulation for only three years. |
| Obverse | |
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At its centre, the obverse of the coin shows the portrait of George Washington, the first President of the United States (1789 - 1797), facing right. He has long hair, falling down in a queue.
The designer's initials LGF (for Laura Gardin Fraser) are in relief on the neck truncation.
Around above, the inscription LIBERTY. In smaller letters on two lines below left, the motto IN GOD WE TRUST.
Below right, the date of issue 2022, under which a small letter represents the mint mark.
Mint marks this year are D, P or S for Denver, Philadelphia or San Francisco mints respectively. |
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| Reverse | |
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The reverse design depicts Wilma Mankiller with a resolute gaze to the future. The wind is at her back, and she is wrapped in a traditional shawl. On the right, the seven-pointed star of the Cherokee Nation.
On three lines below, the inscriptions WILMA MANKILLER, PRINCIPAL CHIEF, and the name of the Cherokee Nation written in the Cherokee syllabary.
Below left, the initials of the designer BS (for Benjamin Sowards); below right, the initials of the sculptor, PH (for Phebe Hemphill).
Around above, the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Around below, the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM ("Out of many, one" - signifying unity in diversity), followed by the denomination QUARTER DOLLAR. |
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