Laura Gardin Fraser 1932 Washington Quarter Plaster Model Resurfaces
By Mike Byers for Mint Error News ……
1932 Washington Quarter Obverse Plaster Model
Designed and Sculpted by Laura Gardin Fraser
Adopted Obverse Design for the 1999 $5 Gold George Washington Commemorative
Unique 11½” Plaster Model
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After nearly 100 years, the obverse plaster model for the 1932 Washington Quarter designed and sculpted by Laura Gardin Fraser has surfaced and has been reunited with the matching reverse plaster model.
This 1932 quarter obverse plaster model for Laura Gardin Fraser’s winning 1932 Washington Quarter submission is an amazing and significant discovery, unknown to the numismatic community until 2025.
The significance and timelessness of Gardin Fraser’s design cannot be overstated is it was selected as the winner of the design competition for the 1932 Washington Quarter by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) (though overridden by Treasury Secretary Andrew William Mellon at the time), issued as the 1999 George Washington Commemorative Gold Five-Dollar coin, and has seen Fraser’s obverse used for the circulating American Women Quarters starting in 2022 and ending later this year.
Laura Gardin Fraser was a noted American Sculptor and was the first woman to design a U.S. commemorative coin. Her officially adopted designs include the 1921 Alabama Half Dollar, the 1922 Grant Gold Dollar and Silver Half Dollar, and the 1925 Vancouver Half Dollar. Additionally, she co-designed the 1926 Oregon Trail Half Dollar with her husband, sculptor James Earle Fraser.
Laura Fraser’s design of her 1932 Washington Quarter was finally adopted decades later and is featured on both the obverse and reverse of the 1999 Washington Five Dollar Gold Coin.
This unique 11½” plaster truly belongs in a museum or private collection of Laura Fraser coin designs. It would be the centerpiece in a collection of the historic event surrounding the selection for the Washington Quarter designs in 1932. This officially adopted plaster model design would also be a prized addition to a collection of U.S. Gold Coins.
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