US Mint Releases Design For Patsy Mink Quarter

The program features coins honoring trailblazing American women.

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The program features coins honoring trailblazing American women.

The likeness of a former U.S. representative from Hawaii will soon be featured on a new quarter.

The United States Mint on Thursday announced designs for the third year of the American Women Quarters Program. It features coins with reverse (tails) designs “emblematic of the accomplishments and contributions of trailblazing American women.”

Patsy Mink, who died in 2002, was an attorney and the first woman of color and the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress. A third-generation Japanese American born and raised on Maui, she also served on the Honolulu City Council, the Hawaii Legislature and in the Carter administration.

The coin depicts Mink holding her landmark Title IX legislation that stated, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

After her death, the law was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act.

In the background of the coin there is a view of the U.S. Capitol Building. Mink is wearing lei.

Beginning in 2022 and continuing through 2025, the Mint will issue five quarters in each of these years. The 2024 coins also recognize the achievements of the Reverend Dr. Pauli Murray, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, Celia Cruz and Zitkala-Ša.

The Secretary of the Treasury selects the women to be honored following consultation with the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, the National Women’s History Museum and the Congressional Bipartisan Women’s Caucus.

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