Duke Ellington Commemorative Quarter

[Ken Dryden]

A new Duke Ellington commemorative quarter is being issued today, which CNN.com proudly proclaims marks "The First African-American to appear on a U.S. Coin."

I don't know if the CNN reporter was totally inept at research or the U.S. Mint goofed in their press release, but Booker T. Washington appeared on a 1946 commemorative half dollar in 1946, while Washington and George Washington Carver appeared together on a separate coin.

I ought to know, I've owned each of these coins for decades.

Here's the link:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/24/duke.elli...coin/index.html

Edited February 24, 2009 by Ken Dryden

[Ken Dryden]

It looks like CNN is at fault for the sloppy research. There is no mention of Duke Ellington being the "First African-American" on a U.S. coin at www.usmint.gov.

[Aggie87]

Chewy started a thread on this already, though you wouldn't catch it from the thread title, here.

[BruceH]

I have yet to see this quarter.

[ejp626]

They may have amended this since you saw it. Now they say, Duke is the first African-American to appear alone on a circulating, as opposed to a commemorative, coin. That claim may be accurate.

The first African-American to appear on a circulating coin was York, a slave who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their "Corps of Discovery" adventures across America at the dawn of the 19th century. The 2003 Missouri quarter features the three men together in a canoe on the obverse.

The U.S. Mint distinguishes between circulating coins, which are intended for daily use, and commemorative ones, which mark special occasions.

African-Americans including Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier, have appeared on commemorative coins. Educator Booker T. Washington, botanist George Washington Carver and the first Revolutionary War casualty, Crispus Attucks, all of whom were black, have also appeared on commemorative coins, according to the U.S. Mint.

In any case, I just ran across a Hawaii quarter, so I figure it will be a few weeks before I see this, but I will keep my eyes open.

[ValerieB]

this is awesome news!!

[BruceH]

Next quarter: Lester Young!

[Hot Ptah]

I want to see an $87 bill with Sun Ra on it!

[Tjazz]

Picked up a roll of Duke Ellington quarters today in Southern California.

[AllenLowe]

well, you know what a racist country this is - the Duke quarter is only worth 22 cents -

George Washington wouldn't put up with this crap -

of course, the Rabbi Schneerson quarter is worth 27 cents -

[ejp626]

In any case, I just ran across a Hawaii quarter, so I figure it will be a few weeks before I see this, but I will keep my eyes open.

I got my first Ellington quarter today! (Anyone else?) It's going in the keepsake drawer. But it sure took a long time to get to Chicago if they indeed released them in Feb. I was getting Guam pretty regularly before this...

[BruceH]

I happened to see this a few weeks ago. It might be more accurate to call it a "District of Columbia" quarter which features Ellington, but still, it's nice.

Still waiting for the Thelonious Monk dollar coin, and the Herbie Nichols nickel.

[captainwrong]

The Abdullah Ibrahim $1?

[Shrdlu]

I want to see an $87 bill with Sun Ra on it!

Homophobe! lol