Washington quarter
The Washington quarter is the present quarter dollar or 25-cent piece issued by the United States Mint. The coin was first struck in 1932; the original version was designed by sculptor John Flanagan.
As the United States prepared to celebrate the 1932 bicentennial of the birth of its first president, George Washington, members of the bicentennial committee established by Congress sought a Washington half dollar. They wanted to displace for that year only the regular issue Walking Liberty half dollar; instead Congress permanently replaced the Standing Liberty quarter, requiring that a depiction of Washington appear on the obverse of the new coin. The committee had engaged sculptor Laura Gardin Fraser to design a commemorative medal, and wanted her to adapt her design for the quarter. Although Fraser's work was supported by the Commission of Fine Arts and its chairman, Charles W. Moore, Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon chose a design by Flanagan, and Mellon's successor, Ogden L. Mills, refused to disturb the decision.
The new silver quarters entered circulation on August 1, 1932, and continued to be struck in silver until the Mint transitioned to copper-nickel clad coinage in 1965. A special reverse commemorating the United States Bicentennial was used in 1975 and 1976, with all pieces bearing the double date 1776–1976; there are no 1975-dated quarters. Since 1999, the original eagle reverse has not been used; instead that side of the quarter has commemorated the 50 states, the nation's other jurisdictions, and historic and natural sites—the last as part of the America the Beautiful Quarters series, which continued until 2021. The bust of Washington was modified and made smaller beginning in 1999; in 2010 the original bust was restored to bring out greater detail. In 2021, Flanagan's original design resumed its place on the obverse, with a design showing Washington crossing the Delaware River in 1776 for the reverse, while in 2022 a new commemorative series depicting women commences.
Flanagan reverse (1932–1998)
The original Washington quarter design struck until 1998 depicted a head of George Washington facing left, with "Liberty" above the head, the date below, and "In God We Trust" in the left field. The reverse depicted an eagle with wings outspread perches on a bundle of arrows framed below by two olive branches.It initially contained 6.25 grams of 90% silver until 1964 when it switched to a base-metal composition of cupronickel clad to a pure copper core. Non-circulating versions of the quarter containing silver have also been produced for collectors since 1976.
Inception
On December 2, 1924, Congress created the United States George Washington Bicentennial Commission. The 200th anniversary of the birth of Washington, the first president of the United States, would occur in 1932, and Congress wished to plan for the event well in advance. President Calvin Coolidge was ex officio chairman of the commission, which included government officials as well as prominent private citizens such as automobile manufacturer Henry Ford. In 1929, the Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover, succeeded Coolidge both as president and in his commission role. By that time, however, the commission had become inactive, doing little after sending out an initial flurry of press releases. A new group, the George Washington Bicentennial Committee was established by Act of Congress in February 1930.Hoover was concerned about the large numbers of designs used for commemorative coins in the 1920s; he feared that confusion would aid counterfeiters. When a commemorative coin bill was sent to him by Congress, Hoover vetoed it on April 21, 1930. In a lengthy veto message delivered to Congress with the returned bill, Hoover noted his counterfeiting concerns, and stated that the coins were selling badly anyway—large quantities of Oregon Trail Memorial half dollars remained unsold.
The Bicentennial Committee wanted a commemorative Washington half dollar, and sought to assuage Hoover's concerns by proposing that all 1932 half dollars depict Washington instead of bearing the usual Walking Liberty design. The Depression had decreased demand for coin in commerce; no half dollars had been struck in 1930, and none would be until 1933. Most commemorative coins at the time were struck in a quantity of a few thousand. The half dollar was seen as the largest and most prominent design—the Peace dollar was not then being struck and did not circulate in much of the country. Other commemoratives had been sold at a premium; the Washington half dollar would, for one year, be the normal Mint issue. Although it had not yet received congressional approval, the committee went ahead and began a competition. The committee anticipated that the same artist would first design the committee's medal and then the coin. The obverse of both medal and coin were to be based on the well-known sculpture of Washington by French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon; the artist was not restricted as to the reverse design. By law, coinage designs were approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, at that time Andrew W. Mellon, a noted art collector and connoisseur; it was anticipated he would interpose no objection to the plan.
After reviewing the entries, both the Bicentennial Committee and the Commission of Fine Arts agreed on designs by Laura Gardin Fraser. The wife of James Earle Fraser, designer of the Buffalo nickel, Laura Fraser was a notable coin designer in her own right, having designed several commemorative coins, including the Oregon Trail Memorial pieces. With a right-facing Washington, Fraser's designs were to be used for the medal, and, as those involved expected, the half dollar as well.
On February 9, 1931, New Jersey Representative Randolph Perkins introduced legislation for a Washington quarter, to the dismay of the Bicentennial Committee and Fine Arts Commission. The House of Representatives Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures issued a memorandum stating that the design of the existing Standing Liberty quarter had been found to be unsatisfactory, and that the new piece would not only be struck for 1932, it would permanently replace the older design. Thus, a new quarter would both be a tribute to Washington on his bicentennial, and relieve the Mint of the burden of having to coin a difficult-to-strike piece. On February 12, Fine Arts Commission Chairman Charles W. Moore wrote to the House Committee, objecting to the change of denomination, and proposing that they mandate that Laura Fraser's design for the medal also appear on the coin. Moore was ignored, and Congress passed authorizing legislation for a Washington quarter on March 4, 1931. The act provided that Washington's image, to appear on the obverse, was to be based on the "celebrated bust" of the former president by Jean-Antoine Houdon; Fraser had based her design on Houdon's work.
Competitions
On July 14, 1931, Assistant Mint Director Mary Margaret O'Reilly wrote to Moore, asking the commission's advice on a design competition for the new quarter. Moore replied, stating that as Fraser had won the competition for the medal, she should adapt her design for the quarter. Secretary Mellon responded to Moore, stating that as the Treasury had been no party to the earlier design agreement, it was not bound by it, and would not follow it. The Treasury proceeded to hold a design competition, and when the Fine Arts Commission met to consider the submitted designs in an advisory role, it selected those submitted by Fraser. The designs were submitted to Mellon in November 1931; he selected Flanagan's design and notified Moore of the decision. Moore and commission member Adolph Weinman attempted to get Mellon to change his mind, but only got him to agree to allow the various sculptors more time to improve their entries—they had asked for more time just for Fraser. On January 20, 1932, following resubmissions, the commission affirmed its support of the Fraser designs.Mellon left office on February 12, 1932; he was succeeded by Ogden L. Mills. With a new Secretary of the Treasury in office, Moore renewed his protest, sending Mills a letter on March 31 deprecating Flanagan's design and urging the new secretary to accede to the commission's recommendation. Mills had already been briefed by O'Reilly on the quarter matter, and responded to Moore on April 11. Secretary Mills informed Moore that the chairman's letter had caused him to request changes from the sculptor, but that he would not override Mellon's decision. On April 16, the selection of Flanagan's designs was publicly announced.
Mellon was aware of which artists had submitted which designs, and has been accused of discriminating against Fraser as a woman. Numismatic historian Walter Breen stated, "it has been learned that Mellon knew all along who had submitted the winning models, and his male chauvinism partly or wholly motivated his unwillingness to let a woman win." Bowers, however, noted that Mellon had approved Fraser's designs for commemorative coins several times, as well as those by other women, and that no contemporary source speaks to any bias on Mellon's part. Bowers called the belief "modern numismatic fiction". Fraser's design was used in 1999 as a commemorative half eagle issued 200 years after Washington's death, and has been recommended as the obverse beginning in 2022.
Obverse design
In 1785, the French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon was commissioned by the Virginia General Assembly to sculpt a bust of Washington, who had led the nascent United States to victory in the American Revolutionary War. Houdon had been recommended by the recently returned United States Minister to France, Benjamin Franklin. The retired general sat for Houdon at Mount Vernon, the Washington family home in Fairfax County, Virginia between October 6 and 12, 1785. The sculptor took a life mask of the general's face—Washington's adopted granddaughter Nelly Custis, aged six at the time, later recalled her shock in seeing Washington lying on a table while being covered by a sheet and the plaster for the mask, as she thought Washington was dead. She was told that two quills extended into his nostrils, providing him with air. A bust at Mount Vernon today testifies to that visit. On his return to Paris, Houdon used his visage of General Washington in a number of sculptural settings, including the commissioned statue for the General Assembly, which still stands in marble in the Virginia State Capitol.Portraits of Washington on medals and in other media subsequent to the sculptor's visit were most often based on Houdon's work, beginning with the 1786 "Washington Before Boston" medal engraved by Pierre Simon DuViviers. Although only one American, Abraham Lincoln, had appeared on a circulating US coin by the 1920s, the Houdon bust had been used as the basis of the portrait of Washington on the commemorative Lafayette dollar dated 1900 and on the Sesquicentennial half dollar of 1926. According to coin dealer and numismatic historian Q. David Bowers, the Houdon bust, even then, was the most common representation of Washington on coins and medals. Little is known of Flanagan's creative process, although models of Flanagan's quarter with a different portrayal of Washington, facing right, and with a different eagle, have come on the market. Flanagan's adaptation differs from the Houdon bust in some particulars: for example, the shape of the head is different, and there is a roll of hair on the quarter not found on the bust.
Art historian Cornelius Vermeule said of Flanagan's quarter, "a die designer could do little wrong in having Houdon's Neoclassic image as his prototype ... Still, it might be asked whether or not it was fair to force an ideal portrait of Washington made in 1785 on an artist working in 1932. There is something cold and lifeless about the results." Vermeule suggests that the quarter started a trend of similar portrait coins issued by the United States, notably the Jefferson nickel and Franklin half dollar. The historian preferred Laura Fraser's version, and termed Flanagan's reverse "a stiff bit of heraldry amid too large a wreath and too much or too large lettering".