Who Is on the Quarter? Washington, and the 2026 Exceptions
George Washington is on the front of the U.S. quarter, and has been since 1932. The exception is 2026: four of the five Semiquincentennial quarters show someone else, namely two Pilgrims, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Abraham Lincoln. If your quarter has a woman on the back, she is one of the 20 American Women Quarter honorees issued from 2022 to 2025, and her name is on the coin.
The question sounds simple and used to be. It has had a more interesting answer since 2022, when the Washington portrait changed direction, and again in 2026, when for one year the law stopped requiring Washington at all. Here is who is on the quarter, by period, with the statute behind each change.
| Years | Front (obverse) | Back (reverse) |
|---|---|---|
| 1932 to 2021 | George Washington facing left, by John Flanagan | An eagle (a colonial drummer for the 1976 Bicentennial), then from 1999 the state, territory and national park designs, and in 2021 Washington crossing the Delaware |
| 2022 to 2025 | George Washington facing right, by Laura Gardin Fraser | 20 American women, one per design |
| 2026 | Five different obverses; Washington on one | Five Semiquincentennial designs |
| 2027 to 2030 | George Washington, required by law | Youth sports |
1932 to 2021: Flanagan's Washington
In 1932 a portrait of George Washington designed by John Flanagan replaced Liberty on the obverse of the quarter, to honor the 200th anniversary of Washington's birth. The design competition the year before had asked for a portrait based on Jean-Antoine Houdon's life-mask bust of Washington. The sculptor Laura Gardin Fraser submitted a right-facing portrait; Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon chose Flanagan's left-facing one instead.
Flanagan's Washington stayed through two big changes. In 1965 the Mint removed silver from the quarter and the coin became copper-nickel clad. In 1999, for the 50 State Quarters, Public Law 105-176 let the Mint move UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and QUARTER DOLLAR to the obverse and the year to the reverse. Washington stayed on the front. Since 1999 the reverse has changed often, through the state, territory and national park programs.
2022 to 2025: Fraser's Washington and the American Women Quarters
For the American Women Quarters Program the Mint finally used Fraser's design. It had first appeared on the 1999 George Washington commemorative $5 gold coin, and from January 2022 it became the common obverse of all 20 quarters in the program. The law required it: the obverse "shall maintain a likeness of George Washington," designed to be distinguishable from the previous one, "such as with incused inscriptions" (31 U.S.C. 5112(x)). That is why Washington faces right on these coins. It is not an error.
The reverse is what changed. Each of the 20 coins honors a different American woman:
- 2022Maya Angelou
- 2022Dr. Sally Ride
- 2022Wilma Mankiller
- 2022Nina Otero-Warren
- 2022Anna May Wong
- 2023Bessie Coleman
- 2023Edith Kanakaʻole
- 2023Eleanor Roosevelt
- 2023Jovita Idár
- 2023Maria Tallchief
- 2024Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray
- 2024Hon. Patsy Takemoto Mink
- 2024Dr. Mary Edwards Walker
- 2024Celia Cruz
- 2024Zitkala-Ša
- 2025Ida B. Wells
- 2025Juliette Gordon Low
- 2025Dr. Vera Rubin
- 2025Stacey Park Milbern
- 2025Althea Gibson
If you are trying to identify one, the list with pictures shows every reverse.
2026: the year Washington mostly left
For the nation's 250th anniversary the Mint issued five Semiquincentennial quarters, each with its own obverse and reverse, and all dated 1776 ~ 2026. Only the Revolutionary War quarter shows Washington.
| Quarter | Obverse shows | Obverse designer | Reverse | Into circulation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayflower Compact | Two Pilgrims, a man and a woman, embracing as they look at the New World | Ronald D. Sanders | The Mayflower under full sail on rough seas | 5 January 2026 |
| Revolutionary War | George Washington | Joseph Menna | A Continental Army soldier at Valley Forge | 23 March 2026 |
| Declaration of Independence | Thomas Jefferson | Not named by the Mint | The Liberty Bell ringing, crack visible | 1 June 2026 |
| U.S. Constitution | James Madison | Joel Iskowitz | Independence Hall with WE THE PEOPLE | 10 August 2026 |
| Gettysburg Address | Abraham Lincoln | Justin Kunz | Two clasped hands with A NEW NATION CONCEIVED IN LIBERTY | 19 October 2026 |
The Gettysburg Address quarter, the last of the five, went to the Federal Reserve Banks on 19 October 2026, with a public release ceremony at Gettysburg on 21 October. The Mint has not named the designer of the Jefferson obverse.
One 2026 coin has a twist. The Mint produced 250,000 Declaration of Independence quarters with a special "July 4th" privy mark and no mint mark, mixed them at random with ordinary Declaration quarters, and put them into circulation through banks in time for the Fourth of July. Separately, it struck 250 edge-numbered 2.5-ounce silver versions on 4 July 2026, to be auctioned at a date it has not announced.
Why Washington was not required in 2026
There is no permanent law that puts Washington on the quarter. The general coin design statute, 31 U.S.C. 5112(d)(1), does not mention him. Each Washington requirement comes from a specific program in Public Law 116-330, the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020: one for 2022 to 2025, one for 2027 to 2030, and one for after 2030. The 2026 provision has no such requirement, which is why four of the five 2026 obverses show other subjects.
2027 to 2030: youth sports, and Washington returns
From 1 January 2027 the reverses will be "emblematic of sports played by American youth," up to five designs a year through 2030, and the obverse "shall maintain a likeness of George Washington." After that program ends, the same law says the obverse "shall bear a design containing a likeness of George Washington." The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee has recommended a Washington obverse and reviewed 2027 sports designs, but those are advisory recommendations, not final selections, and this page will be updated when the Mint announces them.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is on the quarter?
- George Washington. He has been on the front of the quarter since 1932. The exception is 2026, when four of the five Semiquincentennial quarters show someone else: two Pilgrims, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Abraham Lincoln.
- Who is the woman on the back of the quarter?
- One of 20 American women honored on the reverse of the American Women Quarters, issued from 2022 to 2025. Her name is written on the coin.
- Why is Abraham Lincoln on a quarter?
- The 2026 Gettysburg Address quarter, one of five Semiquincentennial quarters for the nation's 250th anniversary, has Lincoln on the obverse. It entered circulation on 19 October 2026.
- Is George Washington still on the quarter?
- Yes, on the 2026 Revolutionary War quarter, and the law requires a likeness of Washington on the obverse again from 2027 onward.
- Who was on the quarter before George Washington?
- Liberty. In 1932 John Flanagan's portrait of Washington replaced Liberty on the obverse, to mark the 200th anniversary of Washington's birth.
- Why does Washington face right on some quarters?
- From 2022 to 2025 the quarter used Laura Gardin Fraser's right-facing portrait, designed in 1931. The left-facing portrait used from 1932 to 2021 was John Flanagan's.
Sources
- U.S. Mint: The Quarter (history of the quarter)
- U.S. Mint: The woman behind the long-awaited obverse quarter design (8 November 2021)
- Public Law 116-330, Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020
- 31 U.S.C. 5112, U.S. Code (govinfo)
- Public Law 105-176 (1998), quarter inscriptions for the 50 States program
- U.S. Mint: Semiquincentennial media kit
- U.S. Mint: Semiquincentennial circulating coin designs unveiled
- U.S. Mint: Release of the Gettysburg Address quarter (21 October 2026)
- U.S. Mint: Limited-edition Fourth of July Declaration of Independence quarters
- U.S. Mint: Youth sports quarters program
Last verified: October 2026. Mintage figures are final.