Bessie Coleman Quarter: Value, Mintage and Errors
The 2023 Bessie Coleman quarter is worth 25 cents in circulated condition. 619,200,000 were struck, 302,000,000 at Philadelphia and 317,200,000 at Denver. Released on 3 January 2023, it was the first coin of 2023 and the sixth in the program. The reverse carries the date 6.15.1921, the day Coleman received her international pilot's license.
What this coin looks like
The reverse shows Bessie Coleman as she suits up in preparation for flight. The Mint describes her expression as reflective of her determination to take to the skies, "the only place she experienced a freedom she did not have on the ground." The date 6.15.1921 on the coin is the day she received her pilot's license.
The design is by Artistic Infusion Program designer Chris Costello, and it was sculpted by U.S. Mint Medallic Artist Eric David Custer. In the Mint's release, Costello explained that he drew an original portrait rather than working from a known photograph, and said the new portrait "depicts her fierce determination and unyielding resolve to become a licensed pilot." The Mint began shipping the quarter on 3 January 2023 as the first coin of the program's 2023 series.
The reverse inscriptions read:
- UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
- QUARTER DOLLAR
- E PLURIBUS UNUM
- BESSIE COLEMAN
- 6.15.1921
The obverse is the same on all 20 coins in the series: George Washington facing right, with LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST, the date and the mint mark. The mint mark is to the right of Washington's neck, below the date. P is Philadelphia, D is Denver, S is San Francisco and appears only on proof and collector issues.
Is my Bessie Coleman quarter an error?
One individually certified error is on record: a 2023-S Bessie Coleman quarter struck through debris, ANACS MS-66, certificate 7517937. It is a single coin, not a variety. No error affecting the Philadelphia or Denver circulation strikes as a group is documented.
What people most often bring to this coin are the three claims that attach to every coin in the series: a faint G in IN GOD WE TRUST (not an error, it is the typeface), flat shiny doubling on the lettering (machine doubling, not a doubled die), and small raised lumps from die chips. The errors page has nine tests that separate a genuine mint error from damage, and the short list of errors that are actually documented in this program.
What is it worth?
| Found in change | 25 cents |
|---|---|
| Uncirculated, from a Mint roll or bag | $1 to $2 |
| Certified mint state | A few dollars, rising to roughly $86 at the top of the population for the series |
| Clad proof (S mint) | Typically less than the cost of grading it |
| Silver proof (S mint, .999 fine) | A floor set by the silver price, plus a small premium |
Values as of October 2026. The full reasoning, including the four cases where a coin in this series is genuinely worth more, is on the value page.
How many were made
| Philadelphia (P) | 302,000,000 |
|---|---|
| Denver (D) | 317,200,000 |
| Total | 619,200,000 |
| Rank in the series | 19 of 20 by mintage, lowest first |
| San Francisco (S) | Not published by the Mint |
San Francisco (S) figures are not shown because the Mint has never published per-design mintages for S-mint American Women Quarters. Any S figure published elsewhere is a secondary-source estimate, and the two most commonly cited sets contradict each other.
See the full mintage table for all 20 designs, or the key date page for where this coin sits in the series.
Collector versions
Besides the Philadelphia and Denver coins in circulation, the Mint sold three San Francisco versions of the 2023 Bessie Coleman quarter directly to collectors. None were released into circulation.
| 2023-S uncirculated | Only in the 2023 three-roll set (40 P, 40 D, 40 S), $60.00 at issue |
|---|---|
| 2023-S clad proof | In the 2023 American Women Quarters Proof Set, $23.00 at issue, 60,934 sets sold |
| 2023-S silver proof | In the 2023 American Women Quarters Silver Proof Set, $80.00 at issue, 47,278 sets sold |
Set sales are as reported by CoinNews on 21 October 2026. Details on the proof and silver proof sets and the Mint rolls and bags.
Who was Bessie Coleman?
Bessie Coleman was born on 26 January 1892 in Atlanta, Texas, the tenth of 13 children of George and Susan Coleman. Her mother was African American, and her father may have had Cherokee or Choctaw grandparents. When she was two, the family moved to Waxahachie, Texas, where they worked as sharecroppers.
She walked four miles to a segregated one-room school and completed elementary school there. At 18 she enrolled at the Colored Agricultural and Normal University in Langston, Oklahoma (now Langston University), but her money ran out after one term.
In 1915 she moved to Chicago, where her brothers were living. She worked as a manicurist at the White Sox Barber Shop, where she heard pilots back from World War I talk about flying, and later managed a chili parlor to save money. Robert S. Abbott, publisher of the Chicago Defender, encouraged her to study flying abroad, and the banker Jesse Binga and the Defender helped fund her.
She sailed for France on 20 November 1920 and trained at the Caudron Brothers School of Aviation in Le Crotoy, learning to fly in a Nieuport 82. On 15 June 1921 the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale issued her pilot's license, the date that appears on the quarter. The Mint describes her as the first African American and first Native American woman pilot, and the first African American to earn an international pilot's license.
She returned to the United States in September 1921. On 3 September 1922 she flew at an air show at Curtiss Field on Long Island held in honor of the 369th Infantry Regiment; Britannica calls it the first public flight by an African American woman in America. She went on to fly stunts at shows across the country, billed as "the world's greatest woman flier" and known as "Queen Bess" and "Brave Bessie." She refused to perform at events that barred African American spectators, and she left a film role in Shadow and Sunshine when she learned it required a demeaning portrayal. On 4 February 1923 her plane stalled and crashed shortly after takeoff in Santa Monica, California; she broke a leg and several ribs and was grounded for months.
Coleman hoped to open a flying school for African American aviators but did not live to do it. On 30 April 1926 in Jacksonville, Florida, she was a passenger in a Curtiss JN-4 she had recently bought, flown by her mechanic and publicity agent, William D. Wills. About ten minutes into the flight the plane dove and spun; she was thrown out at about 2,000 feet and killed, and Wills also died. Investigators later found that a wrench had jammed the controls. She was 34. About 10,000 mourners attended her funeral service in Chicago, led by Ida B. Wells.
In 1929 William J. Powell founded the Bessie Coleman Aero Club, and in 1995 the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in her honor.
She was selected for her achievements in aviation: the Mint recognizes her as the first African American and first Native American woman pilot and the first African American to earn an international pilot's license.
The design
| Reverse designer | Chris Costello, U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program |
|---|---|
| Reverse sculptor | Eric David Custer, U.S. Mint medallic artist |
| Obverse | Laura Gardin Fraser, designed and sculpted, 1931 |
| Released | 3 January 2023 |
Specifications
| Composition, circulating | 91.67% copper, 8.33% nickel (pure copper core, copper-nickel outer layers) |
|---|---|
| Composition, silver proof | .999 fine silver |
| Weight | 5.670 g clad, 6.343 g silver proof |
| Diameter | 24.26 mm |
| Thickness | 1.75 mm |
| Edge | reeded, 119 reeds |
| Mints | Philadelphia (P) and Denver (D) for circulation; San Francisco (S) for proof and collector issues |
No American Women Quarter was struck in 90% silver. The Mint moved its silver proof sets to .999 fine silver with the 2019-dated issues, before this program began.
Frequently asked questions
- How much is the Bessie Coleman quarter worth?
- Twenty-five cents in circulated condition. An uncirculated example from a Mint roll or bag trades for one to two dollars.
- How many Bessie Coleman quarters were made?
- 619,200,000 in total: 302,000,000 at Philadelphia and 317,200,000 at Denver.
- When was the Bessie Coleman quarter released?
- It entered circulation on 3 January 2023.
- Who designed the Bessie Coleman quarter?
- The reverse was designed by Chris Costello of the Mint's Artistic Infusion Program and sculpted by U.S. Mint medallic artist Eric David Custer. The obverse, shared by all 20 coins, is by Laura Gardin Fraser.
- What is on the back of the Bessie Coleman quarter?
- The reverse shows Bessie Coleman suiting up for flight, with the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, QUARTER DOLLAR, E PLURIBUS UNUM, BESSIE COLEMAN and 6.15.1921. It was designed by Chris Costello and sculpted by Eric David Custer.
- What does the date 6.15.1921 on the Bessie Coleman quarter mean?
- It is 15 June 1921, the day the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale issued Coleman's pilot's license.
Sources
- Mintage figures: U.S. Mint circulating coin production dataset.
- Designer and sculptor credits: U.S. Mint, cross-checked against the artists' initials on the coin.
- Coin photograph: United States Mint image.
- U.S. Mint: United States Mint Begins Shipping 2023 American Women Quarters Program Coins Honoring Bessie Coleman January 3
- U.S. Mint: United States Mint Announces Designs for 2023 American Women Quarters Program Coins
- U.S. Mint: United States Mint Announces 2023 American Women Quarters Program Honorees
- U.S. Mint: American Women Quarters 2023 Rolls and Bags, Bessie Coleman
- Wikipedia: Bessie Coleman
- Britannica: Bessie Coleman
Last verified: October 2026. Mintage figures are final.