Althea Gibson being featured on new quarter design
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A Wilmington tennis icon is being featured on a new quarter.
Althea Gibson was a trailblazing multi-sport athlete who accomplished an impressive list of firsts throughout her athletic career. As the first black athlete to break the color barrier at the highest level in tennis, Gibson won 11 Grand Slam titles by the end of the 1950s, including multiple championships at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the French Open in both singles and doubles. She was voted the 1958 Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame. She also became the first Black player to compete in the Women’s Professional Golf Tour.
The United States Mint announced the five honorees for the 2025 American Women Quarters™ Program this week, which includes Ida B. Wells, Juliette Gordon Low, Dr. Vera Rubin and Stacey Park Milbern, in addition to Gibson.
This is the fourth and final year of this historic program featuring coins with reverse designs emblematic of the accomplishments and contributions of American women. The Mint facilities at Philadelphia and Denver will manufacture these circulating quarters honoring these women.
“I am pleased to announce the final five of the 20 remarkable women we have featured in the American Women Quarters Program,” said Mint Director Ventris C. Gibson. “It’s a privilege for the Mint to connect America through coins, and to tell our nation’s story through honoring the women in this amazing program. The pioneering women we have recognized are among the many in our nation’s history who have made significant contributions and championed change in their own unique way.”
As stipulated by Public Law 116-330 , the Secretary of the Treasury selects the women to be honored following consultation with the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, the National Women’s History Museum, and the Congressional Bipartisan Women’s Caucus.
