The United States Mint’s release of the 2023 American Women, Jovita Idar quarter dollar was celebrated in San Antonio, Texas, in separate events Sept. 14 and 16.

The Sept. 14 event was held in partnership with the National Women’s History Museum and the Sept. 16 event in conjunction with the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum and the Mexican American Civil Rights Institute.

The Idar quarter dollar is the fourth of the American Women Quarter Program’s five scheduled releases for 2023, and the ninth of the 20 coins planned during the program’s four-year run, through 2025. The Idar quarter dollar was released into general circulation through the Federal Reserve on Aug. 14.

Idar was a Mexican-American journalist, activist, teacher, and suffragist who devoted her life to fighting against separatist ideologies and sought to create a better future for Mexican Americans.

At the two events, the U.S. Mint distributed free to attendees a mix of 2023-P and 2023-D Idar quarter dollars as well as cardboard quarter dollar holders to accommodate the year’s releases.

Sept. 14 event

Held at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), the Sept. 14 event incorporated two corresponding programs — a roundtable discussion on the historical significance of Jovita Idar and a quarter dollar release celebration featuring keynote speaker Maria Hinojosa, an Emmy- and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.

The approximately 300 people in attendance included several members of the Idar family, UTSA students and staff, and the public.

The roundtable discussion, moderated by UTSA vice president of university relations Teresa Niño, featured six panelists: Gabriela González, Ph.D., associate professor of history at UTSA; Rev. Dr. Elizabeth A. Lopez, Idar family member; Martha L. Aki, Idar family member; Kristie McNally, deputy director of the United States Mint; Jennifer Herrera, vice president of external affairs at the National Women’s History Museum; and Bishop Joel N. Martinez, a retired bishop of the United Methodist Church in San Antonio.

McNally noted in her remarks that, as of Sept. 11, the bureau had shipped to the Federal Reserve for distribution  into circulation some 34.6 million Jovita Idar quarter dollars from combined production at the Denver and Philadelphia Mints.

The event concluded with a customary coin pour of the Idar coin, a ceremonial gesture to introduce the coin to the public.

Sept. 16 event

The Sept. 16 event at the San Antonio Public Library featured a symposium on Idar attended by approximately 100 people. Opening remarks were delivered by U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio.

U.S. Mint Medallic Artist John P. McGraw, who designed and sculpted the reverse design’s portrait of Idar, also attended, supplying his complementary autograph to quarter dollar coin boards.

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