While we’ve said goodbye to both the year 2025 and the penny, five new United States quarters will be finding their way into your pocket soon enough. The designs of each new quarter will honor the country’s 250th anniversary (aka its semiquincentennial).
According to a press release from the U.S. Mint, the coins “commemorate 250 years of American Liberty by reflecting our country’s founding principles and honoring our Nation’s history.” They will only be available this year, which almost assuredly means they will be collector’s items in the future. Each will also be engraved with two dates: 1776–2026. Typically coins only bear the year in which they were minted, not two dates.
In December 2025, the original designs for the “America 250” coins were abandoned and replaced with ones that commemorate some of the country’s founding documents and presidents. The original quarters approved by two official committees in 2024 honored Black Abolition, Women’s Suffrage, and Civil Rights, but were scrapped by the Trump Administration.
There will now be five different quarter designs.
Mayflower Compact Quarter
The heads or obverse side shows two Pilgrims embracing, and honors the Mayflower Compact, Signed on November 21, 1620, the document is considered a precursor to the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. The inscriptions are “E PLURIBUS UNUM,” “1776 ~ 2026,” and “IN GOD WE TRUST.”
The reverse or tails design features the Mayflower, with full sails over rough seas. The inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “LIBERTY,” “MAYFLOWER COMPACT,” and “25¢.”
Revolutionary War Quarter
The obverse design features the first president of the United States, George Washington. During the Revolutionary War, Washington served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army.
The reverse design shows a Continental Army soldier at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Following a defeat at the Battle of Brandywine, Washington’s forces faced disease and devastation during their winter encampment from 1777 to 1778. While independence had been declared the previous July, the Second Continental Congress was forced to flee Philadelphia to evade a British attack. According to the coin’s designers, the soldier’s resolute gaze shows his will to overcome the trials of the war in pursuit of liberty. The inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “LIBERTY,” “25¢,” and “REVOLUTIONARY WAR.”
Declaration of Independence Quarter
This quarter’s obverse side design features Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third President of the United States.
The tails side shows the Liberty Bell ringing. While historians are not entirely sure if the bell rang out in July 1776, the Liberty Bell often rang to draw the people of Philadelphia towards the center of the city for announcements. The Bell’s infamous crack is visible, symbolizing the fragility of a young nation at its founding. The inscriptions are “THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,” “QUARTER DOLLAR,” “LIBERTY,” and “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”
United States Constitution Quarter
President James Madison is featured on this quarter’s obverse design. Madison was the fourth President of the United States and is popularly known as the “Father of the Constitution” for his role in drafting and promoting the document.
The reverse design depicts Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The Liberty Bell was housed in this building and it is where both the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were written, debated, and signed. According to the designers, the inscription “WE THE PEOPLE” and the image of Independence Hall together, “highlight a founding principle laid out in the Constitution: specifically, that our government is grounded in the consent of the governed.” The inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “WE THE PEOPLE,” “LIBERTY,” “U.S. CONSTITUTION,” and “QUARTER DOLLAR.”
Gettysburg Address Quarter
The heads side features the country’s 16th President, Abraham Lincoln. His Gettysburg Address is now recognized as one of the most poignant and moving speeches in American history. In the speech, Lincoln paid tribute to fallen soldiers and appealed to all Americans to advance the principles for which they gave their lives. According to the designers, this particular portrait shows the profound burden of war on his weathered face, but is paired with a forward-looking gaze and determination to move the country forward.
The tails side features the inscription “A NEW NATION CONCEIVED IN LIBERTY,” a passage from the Gettysburg Address. The two hands grasping each other represent Lincoln’s efforts to hold the U.S. together and his appeal to Americans to ensure, “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” The inscriptions are “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”, “A NEW NATION CONCEIVED IN LIBERTY,” “25¢,” and “GETTYSBURG ADDRESS.”
New nickels, a collectible penny, dimes, and a half dollar in honor of the semiquincentennial will also be in circulation over the next few months.
2025 PopSci Outdoor Gift Guide
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