The 2023 American Quarters: Honoring Women and the "In Cod We Trust" Motto

It seems as if money is literally always centered around men, even the coins themselves mostly depict men. 

But fortunately, in the twenty-first century, women have received some of the recognition they have been fighting for for so long, and the era of women's importance begins with us, with our generation.

Nevertheless, each series has its own mistakes that have made tokens popular, one of which is 2023 quarters In Cod We Trust.

The American Women Quarters Program

The AWQP Program started in 2022 and will last for four years until 2025, and it wants to show the big work of important women who helped make the history and culture of the USA, because every year, five new coin designs are made, and they show talented women in science, art, politics, and for people's rights. 

The obverse of all these coins has a new picture of George Washington, and the reverse reflects the five important women of 2023.

Bessie Coleman

Bessie Coleman (1892-1926) was the first African American and the first Native American woman to receive a pilot's license, and she went to fly to France because people in the United States wouldn't let her study because of racial and gender issues.

• Design: The reverse depicts Bessie in flight clothes and on her Curtis JN-4 aircraft, which she used at the airshow, and the rising sun is depicted in the background, which signifies her bravery and the new opportunities she has given to other people.

Approximate Market Value

Edith Kanakaʻole

Edith Kanakaʻole (1913-1979) was a very important figure in Hawaiian culture who preserved the language, traditions of hula dancing and knowledge about nature.

• Design: The coin depicts her face, and behind it is an image symbolizing respect for nature and a spiritual connection with the earth, which was the main idea of what she taught, and around her name there is a Hawaiian quote that speaks about keeping culture safe.

Approximate Market Value

Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) was the first lady of the United States, a diplomat and a person who fought for human rights, and many people called her the “First Lady of the World” because she worked at the United Nations and helped write the important Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

• Design: The coin depicts Roosevelt standing firmly on her feet and holding the Declaration of Human Rights in her hands, and this photo shows how hard she worked for world peace and for everyone to have fundamental freedoms, so choosing her to participate in the 2023 program shows that America cares about human rights for all people.

Approximate Market Value

Jovita Idár

Jovita Idár (1885-1946) was a Mexican-American writer, teacher, and activist who spent her entire life helping Mexican Americans and women stand up for their rights, and she used her newspaper articles to combat racial abuse and improve education.

• Design: The image is dedicated to her work, perhaps it depicts things like a printing press or signage for teaching, and her inclusion in the AWQP program shows the value of being bilingual and fighting for civil rights near the U.S.-Mexico border.

Approximate Market Value

Maria Tallchief

Maria Tallchiff (1925-2013) was a member of the Osage tribe and the first major American ballerina, she changed people's perceptions and became famous all over the world as one of the best ballerinas of the 20th century.

• Design: The coin probably depicts Tallchief dancing in a ballet movement that combines the grace of classical dance with respect for her Native American ancestry, and this quarter is a way to pay tribute to art and indigenous peoples in American culture.

Approximate Market Value

Number and Availability

The coins are made at two main Mints for common use: Philadelphia and Denver.

• Special collector coins are also made at the San Francisco Mint (S) as Proof ones.

• Because the common coins are made in the hundreds of millions, they are easy for many people to get.

In God We Trust: History and Current Talks

The national motto “In God We Trust” is on all American quarters, including the 2023 series, even though there are many different pictures on the back, and this is still something people talk about all the time.

Origins and Making It Necessary

• The motto was first seen on American coins in 1864 on a two-cent coin during the Civil War, because people were more religious when the country was fighting.

• The motto was not always on every coin, so sometimes it was not there and sometimes it came back again for a long time.

• The motto became necessary for all money in 1956 when the Cold War was happening, because the US Congress said that “In God We Trust” was the official national motto, changing the old E Pluribus Unum one.

• Since 1957, this motto has been on all American paper money and coins.

Problems and Errors: Like in every big series, coin collectors look for errors, and even though mistakes like double die or off-center are rare, they can make the price of single tokens much higher for collectors. 

«In Cod We Trust» 

This phrase is the subject of active discussion and search on online auctions, because on some badly worn or damaged coins, the letter G in the word GOD may be erased or damaged in such a way that it visually resembles the letter C.

• Such distortion is most often not a mint error, but post-mint damage or the result of a very weak strike, when the central part of the letter G is not printed or erased in circulation.

Talks About the Constitution

• The main argument is that the motto goes against the First Amendment, which gives people the freedom to choose their own religion.

• People who dislike the motto say it seems like the government is supporting one religion by using a religious phrase on money, which is wrong for a government that should not be religious.

• They also say the motto is not fair to people who do not believe in God because they have to use money that talks about a belief they do not share.

• Some people remember that the US had no official religious motto at first, so making it official in the 1950s was done mostly for political reasons to fight against communism.

• However, courts, including the main Supreme Court, have often decided that the motto is not against the Constitution.

• The judges' main reason is that the motto is now seen as part of patriotic custom because it is just a way to remember religious history and is not trying to start a religion.

Conclusion

The American Women's Quarters Program is clearly trying to solve the old problem of not mentioning women in history by putting on coins the names and great deeds of women who have been hidden for a long time. 

At the same time, the mandatory rule to indicate “In God We Trust” on each coin will remind people of the complex and often controversial relationship between faith and government in America.

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