Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington, the legendary jazz musician born in the District of Columbia, is being honored by the District as the first African-American to appear on a U.S. coin.
This quarter is the first of the U.S. Mint’s 2009 District of Columbia and U.S. Territories Quarters Program. The Mint will issue other coins for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. According to the U.S. Mint, “The image of George Washington as seen on the obverse of the 50 State Quarters® coins will remain unchanged. The reverse of each quarter will be distinctly different with images emblematic of the District of Columbia and each of the territories.”
The residents of the District of Columbia chose the Ellington design from more than 300 others. The District of Columbia Quarter Design Advisory Committee select three concepts for the quarter and allowed the public to select their favorite between Duke Ellington; Benjamin Banneker, the astronomer, mathematician, and surveyor; and Frederick Douglass, the abolitionist.