Coin Highlights
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Country: United States
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Denomination: 25 Cents (Quarter Dollar)
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Series: American Women Quarters Program – first release of 2023, 6th design overall
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Year: 2023
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Mints: Philadelphia (“P”), Denver (“D”) for circulation; San Francisco (“S”) for clad proofs and 99.9% silver proofs in collector sets
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Composition (clad): 91.67% copper, 8.33% nickel; Weight: 5.67 g; Diameter: 24.26 mm; Thickness: 1.75 mm; Edge: Reeded
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Composition (silver proof): 99.9% silver; Weight: 6.34 g (approx. 0.203 troy oz)
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Approx. Mintage: 317.2M (D), 302.0M (P), 500.4k (S), total about 619.7M coins
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Obverse: Laura Gardin Fraser’s right-facing portrait of George Washington with LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST, 2023, and mint mark, used across the American Women Quarters series
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Reverse: Bessie Coleman in flight gear, looking toward a Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplane above the clouds; inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, QUARTER DOLLAR, E PLURIBUS UNUM, BESSIE COLEMAN, and 6.15.1921 (date of her international pilot’s license)
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Designers: Reverse designed by Chris Costello (Artistic Infusion Program) and sculpted by Eric David Custer, U.S. Mint medallic artist
Historical Significance
The Bessie Coleman quarter launches the 2023 lineup of the American Women Quarters Program, a four-year series (2022–2025) honoring women whose achievements transformed U.S. history in fields from suffrage and civil rights to science and the arts.
Born in 1892 to a sharecropping family in Texas, Bessie Coleman faced both racism and sexism that barred her from flight schools in the United States. She traveled to France, learned to fly, and in 1921 became the first African American and first Native American woman to earn an international pilot’s license. She returned home as a barnstorming stunt pilot and outspoken advocate for racial equality in aviation, refusing to perform at segregated events.
The reverse design captures Coleman at the moment of preparation—goggles raised, gaze lifted to the sky, with her biplane cutting through the clouds. According to the U.S. Mint, the sky represents the only place she felt the freedom she was denied on the ground, making this one of the most thematically powerful designs in the series.
Collectibility
The 2023 Bessie Coleman quarter is widely accessible yet rich in collecting angles:
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P & D circulation strikes are common and ideal for rolls, bags, and album sets; high-grade examples from fresh rolls are popular with registry and modern specialists.
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S-mint clad proofs offer sharp detail and mirror-like fields, available in the 2023 American Women Quarters Proof Set.
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S-mint 99.9% silver proofs combine numismatic appeal with bullion content and are included in the 2023 American Women Quarters Silver Proof Set and other silver proof offerings.
As the first 2023 design and the program’s sixth overall issue, the Bessie Coleman quarter is essential for any complete American Women Quarters run. It also fits naturally into themed collections focused on aviation, African American history, Native American heritage, women in STEM, or early 20th-century pioneers—giving this modern quarter strong crossover demand.
