2023-D American Women Bessie Coleman Quarter : A Collector’s Guide
By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek Notes ….
Authorized by Public Law 116-330 (PDF link), five new circulating commemorative reverse designs were released each year of the four-year American Women Quarters program. Featuring a wide variety of designs and aesthetic approaches, the program honors important women from throughout American history and a diversity of fields and backgrounds. The year 2023 started particularly strong with the Bessie Coleman American Women Quarter, which the United States Mint officially released on January 3 as the sixth coin in the 20-coin series. Designed by Chris Costello and sculpted by Eric David Custer, the reverse of the coin commemorates pioneering Black aviator Bessie Coleman
Who Is Bessie Coleman and Why Is She on the Quarter?
Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman was the first African American (and Native American) female to earn a pilot’s license and fly professionally. She was born on January 26, 1892, to a large family of sharecroppers in Atlanta, Texas. Moving to Waxahachie when she was young, Coleman worked with her family in the cotton fields and attended a segregated elementary school. Excelling in her studies (especially math), she won a scholarship to study at a Baptist school at age 12. Working and saving money, Coleman attended Langston University in Langston, Texas, after graduating from high school. However, her savings ran out after only one year, and she had to return home.
Eventually, Coleman moved to Chicago to live with family, and this is where she first learned about the pilots who served in World War I. This inspired her, and she got a second job to raise the money she would need to become a pilot herself.
Unfortunately, an African American woman could not get her pilot’s license in the United States at the time. With the help of benefactors like Robert S. Abbott, the founder of The Chicago Defender, an important African American newspaper that fought segregation and saw contributions from such public Black luminaries as the journalist Ida B. Wells (the first 2025 American Women Quarters honoree) and the poet Langston Hughes, Coleman traveled to France in November 1920.
After she earned her license in June 1921, she returned to the States in September of that year to much fanfare. But there still weren’t many professional opportunities for a Black woman in American aviation, so Coleman sought more training in France and Germany to make a living as a stunt pilot.
She once again returned to the United States and was a popular draw for the next five years. Coleman’s first airshow, which honored the all-Black 369th Infantry Regiment for its service in World War I, took place on Long Island, New York in September 1922 Her plane of choice was the Curtiss JN-4 biplane of “Inverted Jenny” stamp fame.
As she traveled around the country performing stunts in her signature style–criticized by the media of the time as “too flamboyant”–Coleman often gave talks on aviation and African American rights. She also refused to fly in events that excluded Blacks from the audience.
On April 30, 1926, Bessie Coleman ignored the fact that her new plane had to make three emergency landings on its way from Dallas to Jacksonville, Florida and used it anyway in preparation for the next day’s show. The plane unexpectedly went into a dive and threw Coleman–who was not the pilot–from the plane at a height of about 2,000 feet. Her death was deeply mourned in the Black press, and a funeral ceremony held in Chicago was led by Ida B. Wells herself.
Today, Bessie Coleman is known for inspiring future generations of African Americans to become pilots, eventually getting licenses in the United States and even flying into space. The 2023 American Women Quarter celebrating the life and legacy of Bessie Coleman is a long-overdue numismatic commemoration of the woman whose fearlessness, hard work, and style earned her the nickname “Queen Bess”.
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2023-D American Women Bessie Coleman Quarter Market Data and Noteworthy Specimens
Bessie Coleman Quarters from the Philadelphia and Denver mints were shipped to banks on January 3, 2023, with coins entering circulation by February. Numismatic products like bags and rolls went on sale February 14. Product offerings included 100-coin bags of uncirculated business strike quarters (P or D) for $40.00 each; a two-roll set (P and D) of 80 coins for $36.00; and a three-roll set (P, D, and S) of 120 coins for $54.00.
At the end of December 2024, PCGS reports 959 total grading events for the 2023-D Bessie Coleman Quarter, with 383 examples certified MS67 and none finer. NGC, however, reports a total of 1,159 grading events across all grades and only four specimens at the top-pop MS69.
CAC Grading, relatively new to the full-service grading business, has yet to holder any 2023-D Bessie Coleman Quarters.
Prices for certified examples on eBay–such as those listed below–vary wildly depending on the number of eyeballs any given lot manages to attract. But on average, higher-grade quarters are selling for about $7, and raw examples are selling on eBay for around $1.50. Interestingly, both estimates are higher than prices for most other entries in the American Women Quarters program.
Top Population: PCGS MS67 (383, 12/2024), NGC MS69 (4, 12/2024), and CAC N/A (0, 12/2024).
- NGC MS68: eBay, October 13, 2024, Lot 395750050504 – $14.50. American Women – 2023 label (#2012, retired). 7 bids.
- PCGS MS67: eBay, October 12, 2024, Lot 395750306013 – $7.39. 8 bids.
- PCGS MS67: eBay, October 27, 2024, Lot 156460389264 – $6.50. 5 bids.
- PCGS MS67: eBay, November 7, 2024, Lot 395838682472 – $12.50. 7 bids.
- PCGS MS67: eBay, November 23, 2024, Lot 395879657582 – $7.05. 8 bids.
- PCGS MS67: eBay, December 5, 2024, Lot 156542733510 – $2.25. 4 bids.
- PCGS MS67: eBay, December 21, 2024, Lot 395973881151 – $5.50. 7 bids.
- NGC MS66: eBay, November 3, 2024, Lot 395835257859 – $12.50. American Women – 2023 label (#2012, retired). 8 bids.
- NGC MS66: eBay, December 13, 2024, Lot 156565784119 – $4.95. American Women – 2023 label (#2012, retired). 2 bids.
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Design
Obverse:
Instead of a version of John Flanagan’s bust of George Washington that has been on the front of the quarter since 1932, the common obverse of all American Women Quarters depicts a portrait of Washington originally sculpted by Laura Gardin Fraser to mark Washington’s 200th birthday. Though her work was a recommended design for the 1932 quarter, then-Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon ultimately selected the familiar Flanagan design.
The word LIBERTY arcs clockwise along the top of the rim; the four words of the motto IN GOD WE TRUST are divided into four lines on the left side of the coin, behind Washington’s head. The D mintmark for the Denver Mint is located below the date 2023 on the right.
Reverse:
A calm and confident Bessie Coleman, dressed in a leather helmet, gloves, and flight jacket, looks into the distance as she lowers her aviator’s goggles from her forehead in preparation for a flight. To the viewer’s right, a Curtiss JN-4 biplane soars above a thick patch of clouds. Immediately above the scene is the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the denomination QUARTER DOLLAR, in a sans serif font and separated by an incuse dot, wrap clockwise around the top half of the rim. Below the main scene, the name BESSIE COLEMAN is inscribed in the exergue at a slight forward angle suggesting motion. Three stout lines suggesting wings to either side of BESSIE, rendered in a style reminiscent of the Top Gun logo. Beneath her name is the date 6-15-21, which is when Coleman was awarded her international pilot’s license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in Paris.
United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program (AIP) artist Chris Costello created the quarter’s design; his initials CTC are to the left of COLEMAN. Mint Medallic Artist Eric David Custer sculpted Costello’s design; his initials EC are on the right.
The following video from the Mint briefly discusses Bessie Coleman and the 2023 American Women Quarter honoring her:
Edge:
The edge of the 2023-D Bessie Coleman Quarter is reeded with 119 reeds.
Designers
Laura Gardin Fraser was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1889. After receiving an education at the Columbia University and later at the Art Students League of New York, where she studied under her future husband James Earle Fraser. Laura Gardin Fraser died in 1966. In 2022, the portrait of George Washington that she submitted for the Washington Quarter replaced John Flanagan’s long-running portrait (submitted in the same competition) for the duration of the American Women Quarters Program.
AIP artist Chris Costello is a prolific designer for both the U.S. and the Royal Mint UK. He also created the Papyrus typeface in 1982.
Eric David Custer studied art at Edinboro University (now part of Pennsylvania Western University) and industrial design at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. He joined the Mint in 2008 and became a Medallic Artist in 2021.
Coin Specifications
| Country: | United States of America |
| Year of Issue: | 2023 |
| Denomination: | Quarter Dollar (25 Cents USD) |
| Mintmark: | D (Denver) |
| Mintage: | 317,200,000 |
| Alloy: | .750 copper, .250 nickel outer layer, bonded to pure copper inner core |
| Weight: | 5.67 g |
| Diameter: | 24.26 mm |
| Edge: | Reeded |
| OBV Designer: | Laura Gardin Fraser |
| REV Designer: | Chris Costello (design) | Eric David Custer (sculpt) |
| Quality: | Business Strike |
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