Honors the first woman astronaut and a suffragette who was the first Latinx woman candidate for Congress
U.S. Mint, the agency that strikes American coins, will be featuring the first known LGBTQ women on a set of quarters. Astronaut Sally Ride and suffragette Nina Otero-Warren will have their faces on the 25 cent piece.
Part of the American Women Quarters Program, the coins won't be specifically collector pieces but rather will be in the general circulation for wide use.
California-native Ride was posthumously outed in her 2012 obituary. She had a partner of 27 years, Tam O'Shaughnessy. Ride was the first woman in outer space in 1983. Until this year, she was the youngest astronaut, mmaking her first trip at 32 years old.
New Mexico-native Nina Otero-Warren was an activist for women's right to vote in the U.S. and became one of the first female government officials in the American West.
The Otero-Warren quarter will feature the state flower of New Mexico, the yucca, and the phrase "Voto para mujer." It is translated from Spanish as "Votes for women."
Otero-Warren was the first Latinx person to run for Congress in 1922, running as a Republican. She will also be the first Hispanic woman to grace the face of U.S. currency.
In the 1920s, Otero-Warren began a longterm relationship with Mamie Meadors, a tuberculosis patient who moved to Santa Fe as part of her therapy. Both ended up working together on political campaigns and bureaucratic work.
The pair were so well known that they were called "Los Dos" or "The Two."