US Coins

U.S. Mint resumes quarter public launch ceremonies

A quarter dollar launch ceremony, the first by the U.S. Mint since early 2020, will be held June 8 in Hyde Park, New York, for the Eleanor Roosevelt quarter dollar.

Coin images courtesy of the United States Mint.

+The U.S. Mint is resuming official quarter launch ceremonies after a more than three-year moratorium because of COVID-19 restrictions.

The bureau will stage a quarter dollar release ceremony beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern Time June 8, at the Culinary Institute of America, Mariott Pavilion, Ecolab Auditorium, in Hyde Park, New York, for the 2023 American Women, Eleanor Roosevelt quarter dollar.

The Roosevelt quarter dollar was to be released into general circulation through the Federal Reserve on June 5.

For the June 8 ceremony, the U.S. Mint will distribute free to those in attendance circulation quality examples of the 2023-P coins from output at the Philadelphia Mint.

According to U.S. Mint spokesman Michael White, “The event is open to the public, but there will be no bank sponsored coin exchange. Every attendee will receive one Eleanor Roosevelt quarter in a U.S. Mint coin board.”

Previous coin launch ceremonies before the events were suspended because of COVID restrictions included a roll exchange where cash can be exchanged for 40-coin rolls of the new coins from the sponsoring bank.

Release of the 2020 National Park of American Samoa quarter dollar was the occasion for the last public quarter dollar release ceremony before the COVID-19 suspension.

A ceremony scheduled April 7, 2020, for the Weir Farm National Historic Site quarter dollar in the America the Beautiful program and the collector forum the evening before were both canceled when then Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s executive order banned all gatherings of more than 250 people, pursuant to coronavirus pandemic concerns.

About Roosevelt

The Mint’s narrative for the coin establishes Roosevelt’s background and contributions:

“The Eleanor Roosevelt Quarter is the eighth coin in the American Women Quarters™ Program. Eleanor Roosevelt was a first lady, author, civil liberties advocate, and Chairperson of the United Nations Human Rights Commission. She was instrumental in the passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“Roosevelt was born on October 11, 1884 in New York City to a politically prominent family [her father was the younger brother of Theodore Roosevelt]. In 1905, she married her distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

“After her husband was stricken with polio in 1921, Eleanor Roosevelt became increasingly active in politics. She promoted women’s political engagement, playing a leadership role in several organizations, including the League of Women Voters and the Women’s Trade Union League. Her activities were extensively covered in the media in the 1920s, making her publicly recognizable.

“Roosevelt grew to more importance after her husband became president of the United States. She became the most politically active and influential first lady in history, using the position to advance many of her progressive and egalitarian goals. She traveled the nation extensively, visiting relief projects, surveying working and living conditions, and reporting to the president on her observations.

“After President Roosevelt’s death in 1945, Eleanor Roosevelt continued in her public life. President Truman appointed her to the United Nations. She served as Chair of the Human Rights Commission. She worked tirelessly to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on December 10, 1948.

“Eleanor Roosevelt died on November 7, 1962, and is buried alongside her husband on their estate at Hyde Park,” the Mint’s narrative for the coin concludes.

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