The U.S. Mint has released a limited edition quarter to honor the “Queen of Salsa,” Celia Cruz. She’s the first Afro Latina to be featured on U.S. currency.
The release is part of the American Women Quarters Program, which recognizes the accomplishments and contributions of women throughout American history.
The program, which began in 2022 and continues through 2025, issues five new quarter designs each year.
How does it look?
Each coin includes the standard portrait of George Washington on one side.
The reverse side of this coin showcases an image of Cruz beaming her signature smile while dressed in a rumba-style outfit. Her famous catchphrase “¡AZÚCAR!” is engraved on the right. Mint medallic artist Phebe Hemphill created and sculpted the coin.
The coins began shipping earlier this month.
The cultural influence of “Queen of Salsa” #CeliaCruz reached well beyond her music. Discover how! Get inspired by all the #AmericanWomenQuarters honorees! #HerQuarter #USMint https://t.co/FuqSFxOFp8 pic.twitter.com/xdodAQzv7l
— United States Mint (@usmint) August 7, 2024
Who was Celia Cruz?
Cruz was born in Cuba on Oct. 21, 1925. She left Cuba in 1960 after the revolution led by Fidel Castro. According to the Celia Cruz Foundation, she received numerous awards and honors, including four Latin Grammy Awards, the President’s National Medal of Arts, and three Grammy Awards. She was inducted into the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame and the International Latin Music Hall of Fame.
According to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Cruz’s significant breakthrough occurred when she became the lead singer for the Afro-Cuban orchestra La Sonora Matancera. During this period, she created her iconic shout “Azucar!” (Sugar!) after a waiter in a Miami restaurant asked if she wanted sugar in her coffee.
Cruz passed away from brain cancer in 2003. She was honored with a U.S. postage stamp in 2011.
Other women recognized with U.S. quarters this year are:
- the Rev. Pauli Murray (1910-1985), the first African American to earn a J.S.D., a Doctor of the Science of Law degree, from Yale Law School and a co-founder of the National Organization for Women.
- Patsy Takemoto Mink (1927-2002), the first woman of color elected to the U.S. Congress, and the first Asian American woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
- Dr. Mary Edwards Walker (1832-1919), an American abolitionist, prohibitionist, prisoner of war and surgeon. Walker is the only woman to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
- Zitkala-Ša (1876-1938), an educator and political activist for Native Americans’ right to United States citizenship and other civil rights.
