When I first saw the U.S. Mint’s design for the 2023 American Women quarter dollar honoring Jovita Idar, my first thought was, “Wow! That’s different. It’s so unlike the designs for the series’ quarters that came before it or are scheduled for release after it.” It is, in fact, unlike the design of any other U.S. coin.

The reverse design features a portrait of Idar from about the waist up, with her clasped hands at the bottom. What makes this  design different is that medallic artist John P. McGraw chose to not include the textures and patterns of Idar’s dress, but instead placed all of the statutory inscriptions and “inscriptions representing some of her greatest accomplishments and the newspapers for which she wrote” within the outline of the portrait, according to the Mint’s narrative about the design. The fields outside the portrait are empty, devoid of any inscriptions.

I am not sure what to think of the design.

It is different (yes, I know; I already said that, but it bears repeating). In some ways the design reminds me of some of the psychedelic posters of my youth in the 1960s. I am not sure why the portrait brings that earlier art style to mind — it just does.

I do not know whether I like  McGraw’s design. It looks so unlike the more typical reverse designs found on the other American Women quarter dollars that it seems to be part of a different series. Most of the other designs depict standard portraits of the women honored, with typical placement of the required inscriptions.

What do you think of the design? Love it, hate it, or are you indifferent?
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