Quarter and Half Dollar Coins: History and Current Status

Quarter and Half Dollar Coins: History and Current Status

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Updated January 4, 2023
Quarter and Half Dollar Coins: History and Current Status
The Secretary of the Treasury, through the U.S. Mint, is
Bicentennial.” Figure 2 shows the Bicentennial Quarter and
statutorily authorized to issue specific denominations of
Half Dollar.
circulating coins (31 U.S.C. §5112). Currently, the United
States has six circulating coins—dollar, half dollar, quarter
Figure 2. Bicentennial Quarter and Half Dollar, 1976
dollar, dime, nickel, and penny. All coinage is also required
to have certain design elements, including specific words
such as “Liberty,” or “E Pluribus Unum.” Since 1930, the
Mint has redesigned the quarter dollar six times (1932,
1976, 1997, 2008, 2021, and 2022), while the half dollar
was last redesigned in 1964. The Circulating Collectable
Coin Redesign Act (P.L. 116-330) authorized future
redesigns of the quarter and half dollar between 2022 and
2030.
Quarter Dollar Designs
The first quarters were issued in 1796 and depicted Lady
Liberty on the (front) obverse and an eagle on the (back)
reverse. Since then, the quarter dollar has been redesigned
six times, with two future redesigns authorized by the
Circulating Collectable Coin Redesign Act of 2020.
Washington Quarter
In March 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a law (46
Stat. 1523) to change the design of the quarter dollar coin to
commemorate “the two hundredth anniversary of the birth

of George Washington.” The law required a portrait of
Source: U.S. Mint, “1976 Bicentennial Coins,” at
George Washington on the obverse and “appropriate
https://www.usmint.gov/learn/kids/library/bicentennial-coins.
devices on the reverse.” The finished coin (as seen in
50 State Quarters
Figure 1) had a “standard eagle” design on the reverse.
In December 1997, the 50 States Commemorative Coin
Figure 1. George Washington Quarter, 1932-1998
Program Act (P.L. 105-124) authorized changes to the
quarter dollar to honor each state. The 50 state quarters
were first issued in 1999 in the order that the states ratified
the Constitution or were admitted to the Union, starting
with Delaware. As initially enacted, the 50 state quarter
program did not include the District of Columbia or the
territories. On December 26, 2007, the quarter dollar
program was amended to include the District of Columbia
and the territories (P.L. 110-161). These quarters were
issued after the 50 states, beginning in 2009.
America the Beautiful Quarters
In 2008, Congress authorized the U.S. Mint to redesign the
Source: U.S. Mint, “The History of U.S. Circulating Coins,” at
reverse of the quarter to honor national parks and historic
https://www.usmint.gov/learn/history/us-circulating-coins.
sites in each state, territory, and the District of Columbia.
Notes: The reverse of the Washington Quarter was redesigned for
The America the Beautiful quarters were first issued in
the American Bicentennial in 1976. See Figure 2.
2010. Five national parks or historic sites were featured
each year. The program ends in 2021. Quarters were issued
Bicentennial Quarter
in the order that the national park or historic site was
In October 1973, Congress authorized (P.L. 93-127) the
created. Figure 3 shows the last America the Beautiful
redesign of the quarter’s, half dollar’s, and dollar’s reverse
quarter, the 2021 Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site
to celebrate the bicentennial of American independence.
(AL) quarter.
The law required that the coins have two dates—1776 and
1976—and should “bear a design determined by the
Secretary [of the Treasury] to be emblematic of the
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Quarter and Half Dollar Coins: History and Current Status
Figure 3. 2021 Tuskegee Airmen National Historic
Nation or the Declaration of Independence or any other
Site (AL) Quarter
monumental moments” in American history.
 Between 2027 and 2030, to feature images “emblematic
of sports played by American youth.” Each will feature
a single sport, with up to five sports celebrated each
year.
Figure 5. 2022 American Women Quarters

Source: U.S. Mint, “Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site
Quarter,” at https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/
america-the-beautiful-quarters/tuskegee-airmen-national-historic-site.
Washington Crossing the Delaware Quarter
In 2021, at the end of the America the Beautiful quarter
program, the quarter dollar featured George Washington on
the obverse and a new image of General Washington
Crossing the Delaware River prior to the Battle of Trenton
on the reverse. Figure 4 shows the Washington Crossing
the Delaware quarter dollar issued in 2021. This design will

also be issued during any period when Congress does not
Source: U.S. Mint, “American Women Quarters Program,” at
mandate an alternative design.
https://www.usmint.gov/news/image-library/american-women-
quarters-program.
Figure 4. Washington Crossing the Delaware Quarter
Note: The 2022 Quarters depict Maya Angelou, Dr. Sal y Ride, Nina
Otero-Warren, Wilma Mankil er, and Anna May Wong.
Half Dollar Designs
The half dollar coin was initially authorized in 1792. Since
1964, President John F. Kennedy has appeared on the
obverse and an eagle on the reverse (except for a change to
the reverse for the U.S. bicentennial). Figure 6 shows the
2021 design of the Kennedy Half Dollar.
Figure 6. Kennedy Half Dollar, 1964 to Present

Source: U.S. Mint, “General George Washington Crossing the
Delaware Quarter,” at https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-
programs/circulating-coins/general-george-washington-crossing-the-
delaware-quarter.
Prominent American Women
The Circulating Collectable Coin Redesign Act of 2020
(P.L. 116-330) authorized the Mint to issue up to five
quarters each year between 2022 and 2025, to feature
prominent American women in areas “including but not

limited to suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government,
Source: U.S. Mint, “Half Dol ar,” at https://www.usmint.gov/coins/
humanities, science, space, and arts, and should honor
coin-medal-programs/circulating-coins/half-dol ar.
women from ethnically, racially, and geographically diverse

backgrounds.” Figure 5 shows the 2022 American Women
The Circulating Collectable Coin Redesign Act of 2020
Quarters.
authorizes the half dollar’s redesign between 2027 and 2030
to honor Paralympic sports with images on the reverse
Future Quarter Designs
“emblematic of a sport tailored to athletes with a range of
The Circulating Collectable Coin Redesign Act also
disabilities, including physical impairment, vision
authorizes two future quarter reverse redesigns. They are:
impairment and intellectual impairment.”
 In 2026 to celebrate the semiquincentennial (250th
Jacob R. Straus, Specialist on the Congress
anniversary) of the United States, with up to five
different designs. At least one must be “emblematic of a
IF11394
woman’s or women’s contribution to the birth of the
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Quarter and Half Dollar Coins: History and Current Status

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