The United States Mint officially revealed which design will appear on quarter reverses (tails side) beginning in 2021. The U.S. Mint also published images of 2021 quarters bearing the design.
Depicting General George Washington crossing an ice-choked Delaware River in 1776 prior to the Battle of Trenton, the new quarters will be released into circulation beginning April 5, 2021.
They will mark a closure to the Mint’s America the Beautiful Quarters® Program. The program, which debuted in 2010 and features changing reverses honoring national parks and other national sites in each state, the District of Columbia and the five U.S. territories, ends with the coin honoring Alabama’s Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site. The Tuskegee Airmen quarter will start circulating Feb. 1, 2021.
Public Law 110-456 directs usage of a crossing the Delaware image upon the completion of the America the Beautiful program. Seventeen candidates were reviewed.
The final design was selected by the Treasury Secretary after consulting with the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC).
Created by Benjamin Sowards and sculpted by Michael Gaudioso, the image shows General Washington commanding his troops through the overnight crossing of the ice-choked Delaware River prior to the Battle of Trenton during the American Revolutionary War. Inscriptions include "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," "E PLURIBUS UNUM," "CROSSING THE DELAWARE," and "QUARTER DOLLAR."
The reverse will be paired with John Flanagan’s portrait of President Washington. The original portrait was introduced on quarter obverses in 1932. Specifically, Public Law 110-456 mandates that the obverse revert to the same design containing the image of the President in use before the 50 State Quarters Program.
