Celebrated writer, composer, educator and political activist Zitkala-Ša appears on the latest release from the United States Mint today as part of its American Women Quarters™ Program. Zitkala-Ša quarter dollars are available in rolls and bags, each struck to circulation quality at the U.S. Mint facilities in Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco.
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Options include two-roll sets, three-roll sets, and 100-coin bags. While the coins feature a circulation finish, none have been released into general circulation.
Zitkala-Ša (translated as "Red Bird"), also known by her English married name Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, was a member of the Yankton Dakota Sioux and was born on the Yankton Indian Reservation in Dakota Territory on February 22, 1876. At the age of eight, Quaker missionaries took her to White’s Indiana Manual Labor Institute in Wabash, Indiana. This experience brought both pain and joy, as she was forced to leave behind her Native American heritage but learned to read, write, and play music.
As an adult, Zitkala-Ša sought to share her struggles, authoring several books that chronicled her experiences and publishing legends collected from Native tribes. She also excelled in music, co-writing The Sun Dance Opera with American composer William F. Hanson.
Throughout her life, Zitkala-Ša frequently engaged in political activism. She served as the national secretary of the Society of American Indians in Washington, DC, often voicing criticism of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and lecturing nationwide on the importance of tribal identity for Native Americans. In the 1920s, Zitkala-Ša also dedicated efforts toward women’s rights.
Zitkala-Ša Quarter Designs
The reverse (tails side) of the Zitkala-Ša quarter features an image of the honored individual in traditional Yankton Sioux dress, holding a book to represent her work as an author and her advocacy for Native American rights. Behind her is a stylized sun, symbolizing her collaboration on The Sun Dance Opera, with a cardinal included to signify her name, which translates to "Red Bird.
A Yankton Sioux-inspired diamond pattern sits beneath the sun. Inscriptions include "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," "E PLURIBUS UNUM," "AUTHOR," "ACTIVIST," "COMPOSER," "25 CENTS," and "ZITKALA-ŠA."
This design was created by U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program artist Don Everhart and sculpted by United States Mint Medallic Artist Renata Gordon.
The obverse (heads side) of all coins in the American Women Quarters series features the same portrait of George Washington. Created by artist Laura Gardin Fraser to commemorate Washington’s 200th birthday in 1932, this image serves as a consistent element across the series. Obverse inscriptions include "LIBERTY," "IN GOD WE TRUST," and "2024."
Quarter Specifications
| Denomination: | Quarter |
| Finish: | Uncirculated |
| Composition: | 8.33% nickel, balance copper |
| Weight: | 5.670 grams |
| Diameter: | 0.955 inch (24.26 mm) |
| Edge: | Reeded |
| Mint and Mint Mark: | Philadelphia – P Denver – D San Francisco – S |
| Privy Mark: | None |
Quarter Products, Prices, Limits, and Ordering
The Zitkala-Ša quarter release includes the following product options:
- Two-Roll Sets containing 40 quarters produced at the Philadelphia Mint and 40 quarters produced at the Denver Mint for $40.
- Three-Roll Sets containing 40 quarters from the Philadelphia Mint, 40 from the Denver Mint, and 40 from the San Francisco Mint for $60.
- 100-Coin Bags where buyers have the choice of 100 coins from either the Philadelphia or Denver Mint for $45.
The U.S. Mint has set product limits at 6,000 for the Two-Roll Sets, 16,625 for the Three-Roll Sets, and 8,250 for the 100-Coin Bags. Household order limits are capped at three for the roll sets and ten for the bags.
American Women Quarter products may be ordered directly from the U.S. Mint’s online catalog.
Zitkala-Ša quarters entered circulation on Monday, October 21, through the Federal Reserve Bank System. Notably, only the Philadelphia and Denver Mint quarters were released, as the San Francisco strikes are produced exclusively for numismatic purposes.
American Women Quarters Program
Public Law 116-330 created the American Women Quarters series, which debuted in 2022. Under the program, a total of twenty new coins will be issued over four years to celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of women in the United States.
The 2024 quarters honor the following individuals:
- Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray – poet, writer, activist, lawyer, and Episcopal priest
- Patsy Takemoto Mink – first woman of color to serve in Congress
- Dr. Mary Edwards Walker – Civil War era surgeon, women’s rights and dress reform advocate
- Celia Cruz – Cuban-American singer, cultural icon, and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century
- Zitkala-Ša – writer, composer, educator, and political activist
American Women Quarters also appear in U.S. Mint clad proof sets, silver proof sets, holiday ornaments, and uncirculated sets, in addition to these rolls and bags.
2025 quarters will mark the end of the series and will recognize Ida B. Wells, Juliette Gordon Low, Dr. Vera Rubin, Stacey Park Milbern, and Althea Gibson.
Another why or what from the US Mint? What, may you ask at this point? LOL Well, perhaps I’ve missed something or maybe I haven’t? In the description for the upcoming 2024 Flowing Hair Gold $1, the edge will have incused the words, “OR UNIT”. Huh? As in, ““HUNDRED CENTS ONE DOLLAR OR UNIT.” I’ve no issue with hundred cents or one dollar, however since when do we use, “Unit” as a description for a given denomination on our coins, to denote value? Why couldn’t they have simply just included ”HUNDRED CENTS ONE DOLLAR, left off the “OR UNIT” portion… Read more »
My best guess Cali, is that they want stay as close as possible to the original design…
https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1794-1/6851
Rick, thanks for providing “rhyme to the reason”! I’ve admitted previously, I sometimes have a problem seeing the forrest through the trees! LOL
“Run, Forrest, Run!” I recall we “Old Ladies” are supposed to endorse that.
Rick and CaliSkier,
I suppose if it was good enough for the Founding Fathers it’s sufficient for us.
CaliSkier,
The only ‘Unit’ I see on the FH is in the word ‘United’ on the reverse. What am I missing?
Craig, as I noted in my apparently unjustified rant/diatribe above: “the edge will have incused the words”. This is similar to the Presidential dollars with the smooth edge vs reeded, being inscribed/incused with additional information.
See below pic as an additional reference.
Craig,
It’s not on the FH Silver Medal because that has no face value. It will be on the One Dollar FH Gold Coin if the Mint follows the original design.
You don’t trust the Mint? Why?
Multiple Choice: Do you…
a) Trust the Mint.
b) Not trust the Mint.
c) Sometimes trust the Mint.
d) Prefer to collect stamps.
Essay Question: Explain why you made your choice.
Thank you; you inspired me, Antonio!
You’re welcome Kaiser. It was meant to be a rhetorical question. It could have been, “Do you trust the government?”
Antonio,
I must have been very tired when I first saw your question because quite frankly I really didn’t know what to make of it; I certainly didn’t get as far as believing it to be meant as rhetorical. Then again, not understanding the actual thrust of it allowed me to play my little word game with the concept which I myself found rather amusing even if no one else may have had that same take on it. We do what we can with what we have to work with.
CaliSkier,
I hate to relate any levity whatsoever to this clearly heartfelt expression of opinion, but I have to say I hope you didn’t pop a gasket thinking about “units” of coinage.
Why was the dime originally a disme? What is a dime anyway? Why not call it as Canadians call their’s, 10 Cents?
Antonio,
Per Wikipedia, here’s the link to the etymology of “dime”:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dime_(United_States_coin)
“Disme” was an Old French word meaning tithe, or one tenth; derived from Latin. It’s the only US coin not denoted in either cents or fractions of a dollar.
Sam-I-am,
My favorite part is the tithe = one tenth part. Explains tithing as such.
Sam-I-Am,
Thank you very much. Now we know.
Antonio,
Very good questions, and by you asking them we are now all further informed.
Somebody is playing the palladium game again, driving its price up only to sell it later.
Right you are, Sir Kaiser. The price of palladium shot up by about 8% on Thursday (Oct 24); and palladium is up by around 30% percent since earlier this month, having spiked from $922 an ounce to over $1,200 today. The reason being given for the sudden spike in the price of palladium is the threat of supply disruptions that have reignited buying activity (and the fear trade) arising from potential restrictions that may occur from the recent U.S. push for G-7 members to sanction Russian palladium. Russia is the world’s largest producer/supplier of palladium.
Rich,
My biggest takeway from your thorough explanation as to what is happening to drive palladium prices up is that it took this long to boycott Russian Palladium.
so this now completes the 25th year in a row of multiple quarter designs. we get 5 more next year, then up to 5 more in 2026 for the semiquincentennial (that would probably score 200 points in scrabble) and then the youth quarters from 2027 to 2030, so for sure we are going to have at least 31 years in a row with multiple quarter designs. note that the ‘original’ washington quarter design lasted for 56 years (excepting the 1976 bicentennial), but half of those years you will likely never see in circulation because they are silver. that means by… Read more »
What a great idea! Five DIFFERENT designs to commemorate the 300th anniversary of George Washington’s birth! I see the potential for profit here.
Lately, Antonio, the potential for profit seems to have grown in importance to be the driving force for many of the coin and medal buyers on this site of ours.
c_q,
What a great exploration of the history of the George Washington Quarter. I really enjoy reading this kind of exposition which manages to point out all the ins and outs and ups and downs of how one particular coin can be employed by the Mint on so many different occasions and for such divergent purposes. Kudos, my friend!
I really like the Standing Liberty, unfortunately the design wears down too quickly. As a boy, any found in circulation (in the ’60s) had Liberty as nothing more than a silhouette and the date worn off. I did get my first Indian Head Cent dated 1907 from a coin vending machine with a Standing Liberty Quarter without a date, thus starting my Indian Head Cent collection.
Antonio,
I had entirely forgotten how common it was for Standing Liberty Quarters to have had their dates “erased” while other features of the coin were still quite visible.
Cali, Off Topic: I saw on Ebay, one Seller is selling the Silver Eagle w/star privy, MS70, 1st of 50K, for $399.99 and he’s sold 5 already! The same one you and I purchased. Now I wish I still had those 5 in the black core holders that I already sold, lol! I’ve learned tho usually if you hang on and wait, whatever it is seems to usually go down in value, so I try to strike while the irons hot! I’m still happy about doubling my money, from a $500 purchase to a $1000 Sale. That’s a pretty good… Read more »
Thanks for the update AKBob! I noticed that in the last few days, sales running about $199-$250. One seller has a listing at $399.00 or best offer, having sold over 20 coins. I didn’t see any of his sales for $399 though. Anyhow, I probably should sell one of mine, just too busy with other stuff currently. You probably could sell those Black Label versions easily for $249-$399+ currently? I do expect that striking while the iron was hot, was probably the best move as often as you noted the bottom drops out on the secondary market fairly rapidly, more… Read more »
CaliSkier,
The scenario you’ve outlined goes a long way to explaining why some flippers perfer to jump in earlier rather than later since a fair to middling profit is better than what down the road might be no gain at all. Only the gambling types of resellers would want to hold out to the last moment to see if they can catch some of the really desperate FOMO action and thereby end up making a real killing.
To add my two cents, I’m keeping my FH silver medal, and that’s that! I like it. I’m a collector, it’s what I do. I need to take my coins out and enjoy them more. I’m happy with my collection. The FH silver is a very nice addition (even if it ISN’T a coin, LOL). 😀
Antonio,
This is why I ended minus an FH Silver Medal; my stubborn “coins only” policy cost me the ownership of a very nice piece of medallic art!
AKBob,
To sell early or to sell late, that is the question. Seems to me you did just fine anyway!
AKBob,
I misunderstood your purchase and sales dollar amounts regarding the black core holders. I had been under the completely mistaken impression you cleared $500 on each of those five coins and not as a total profit for all of them. Still, not bad at all!
Kaiser, No biggie! I’m very happy turning $500 into $1000. If I had waited, I could have turned that $500 into $2000. You just never know what’s going to happen, it could remain the same, go up or down in value. It’s a gamble. I’m NOT a greedy person. I’ve asked Sellers to lower their prices many times and more often than not, they will. There are some that either won’t or can’t for whatever reason. I figure a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush. More times than not, actually, many times more times than… Read more »
AKBob, I always enjoy your stories of life in the Alaskan wild. My wife says that for the two of us camping is a bad Holiday Inn; you know, really “roughing it”. I had to laugh, but in a good way, when you said that at 70 and 66 respectively things in general require a bit more effort than they used to, because we at 77 and 75 respectively are at yet another stage where it seems everything has become quite a bit more difficult to accomplish. However, any time I dare to complain about that my wife says “Consider… Read more »
On topic: American Womens Quarter PDS 3-roll sets, increase the product limits again in 2025. The 2022 AWQ had a product limit of 7,260. The 2023 AWQ 3-roll sets had the product limit increased to 12,620. Then in 2024 they raised the product limit once again to 16,625 and in 2025 the product limit for the PDS 3-roll set will be 18,625. The 2022 AWQ 3-roll sets were sold by the US Mint for $54 and today still command a premium, selling for roughly $40-$130+ over issue price depending on the issue. The Sally Ride, Maya Angelou, and Wilma Mankiller… Read more »
CaliSkier,
Many thanks for relieving me of any FOMO stress I might possibly have been encountering regarding the more recent releases of the 3-roll sets of AWQs!
I missed out on the three roll set I wanted of Anna May Wong. I did purchase a three roll set each of Jovita Idar and Celia Cruz, which I wanted. If I wanted each of the three mints for my collection, buying the missing coins (S), is less expensive per coin than buying rolls just to have one coin. I may do that. After the 250th anniversary of American Independence, I may call it quits for contemporary coins. It’s too expensive. I’ll continue with my ASEs, Morgan and Peace Dollars though. Gold is for someone else. There are so… Read more »