posted 04-14-2021 02:45 PM               

US Mint to honor astronaut Sally Ride on 'American Women' quarter

The first female U.S. astronaut to fly into space will be honored by the United States Mint in 2022, leading off a series of circulating coins depicting notable American women.

Sally Ride, who famously made history launching on the space shuttle in 1983, will be featured as part of the Mint's American Women Quarters Program. The late astronaut will be one of the first two women represented on the new coins, which will be issued through 2025.

posted 04-20-2021 06:30 PM               

Sally Ride coin designs recommended for American Women quarter

Astronaut Sally Ride will be depicted on a U.S. coin looking out a spacecraft window at Earth, if the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury agrees with the recommendations made by two advisory panels for the design of quarter dollar to be issued in 2022.

The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) met virtually Tuesday (April 20) to review, in part, the United States Mint's concepts for the coin honoring the first American woman in space as part of the new American Women Quarters program starting next year. The CCAC meeting followed a similar review by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts held on April 15.

posted 10-07-2021 02:12 PM               

US Mint reveals final design for astronaut Sally Ride 2022 quarter

The United States Mint has finalized the design of a new coin that when released next year will honor America's first woman to fly into space.

The U.S. Mint on Wednesday (Oct. 6) displayed the official artwork for the first five coins in its new American Women Quarters Program. As directed by Congress, the four-year program will feature coins with reverse (or tail's side) designs that are emblematic of the accomplishments and contributions of trailblazing American women.

posted 11-22-2021 09:56 AM               

• February 10, 2022 - Proof Set (with other 2022 American Women quarters)

• February 24, 2022 - Silver Proof Set (with other American Women quarters)

• March 22, 2022 - Sally Ride Quarters Rolls and Bags

• Summer 2022 - Sally Ride American Women Quarter Ornament

posted 03-21-2022 04:36 PM               

Coin honoring Sally Ride, first US woman in space, enters circulation

The United States' first woman to fly into space has lifted off a new mission, this time to orbit the nation in the form of a new circulating coin.

The U.S. Mint on Monday (March 21) began shipping the Dr. Sally Ride quarter, the second coin in its American Women Quarters program. Struck at the Mint's facilities in Philadelphia and Denver, the 25-cent pieces — each displaying an engraving depicting the late astronaut — should begin showing up at banks and in the change tendered at stores over the next three to four weeks.

posted 04-14-2022 07:24 PM               

I do, however, like collecting an example of each space-related coin released by the U.S. Mint (and certain others). Typically, I am only interested in owning one example of each coin. That has not been an issue with the recent issues, as all were sold by the Mint as standalone products, either as proofs or sometimes uncirculated coins.

For the Sally Ride American Women quarter, though, the Mint only released the coins in rolls and bags. The proof version of the quarter only comes in sets (either for the year or with the four other 2022 American Women quarters).

A single quarter ornament is set for release later this year, which seemed like the only option for my collection. Then I saw that NGC was grading and slabbing individual quarters with a "First Day of Issue" label. This seemed like the perfect solution, and as an added bonus I could collect single examples for all three mint facilities (Denver [D], Philadelphia [P] and San Francisco [S]).

(As an aside, for those unaware, the Sally Ride coins now entering circulation are only from the Denver and Philadelphia facilities. The coins struck in San Fransisco were only available through the bags and rolls sold by the mint, such that they are of fewer quantity.)

The downside is that grading comes at a cost. If you obtained your own coins from the mint, you could send them into NGC to be encapsulated and graded with the special American Women label at no additional charge (or $12 for the first release designation). If I am reading their website correctly, the cost to grade and encapsulate a "modern" U.S. coin is $19.

If you don't have access to the coins, there are always dealers (on and off eBay). The Home Shopping Network (HSN), for example, is offering a Sally Ride-S quarter already graded and slabbed by NGC for $80. The price is driven in part by the grade, which in this case is MS-67.

(For those unfamiliar, the Mint State [MS] grading is based on a 70-point scale with MS-70 being "perfect uncirculated." MS-67, MS-68 and MS-69 graded coins are considered "superb gem uncirculated.")

The prices asked for coins quickly rise with the higher MS numbers. If you are like me, though, and are just looking for a nice looking example with no obvious blemishes, then the MS-65/66 ("gem uncirculated") graded coins — if not all the way down to MS-60 ("uncirculated") — are a viable option.

Right now, most of the dealers I could find are only offering examples graded as low as MS-66, such that the difference in retail (or Buy-It-Now) prices is $20 each rather than as high as $230 for the higher grades.

posted 08-26-2022 12:00 AM               

New US Mint ornament features astronaut Sally Ride quarter at its center

The U.S. Mint is launching a new collectible celebrating the first American woman to fly into space.

The Dr. Sally Ride American Women Quarters 2022 Ornament features the mint's earlier issued 25-cent coin honoring the late NASA astronaut's accomplishments. Set for release today (Aug. 26), the keepsake comes five months after the quarter depicting Ride entered circulation as the second of five American Women Quarter being released this year.