What to Know
- The face of the wonderful and legendary Cuban Celia Cruz, the Salsa Queen or the Guarachera of Cuba as many know her, is already immortalized on a 0.25-cent coin and the coins began to be distributed on Monday, the United States Mint, the official source of new U.S. currencies, announced
- Celia Cruz, considered one of the most influential Latin women in history and remembered for her wonderful expression "¡Azúcar!," was chosen alongside four other women as part of the award winners for the American Women Quarters in 2024, an initiative that celebrates the achievements and contributions of women in the United States
- Celia Cruz is the fourth of five coins that will be launched this year and the number 14 coin of women who have been commemorated in the program
- The American Mint artist, Phebe Hemphill, designed and sculpted the image.
The face of the wonderful and legendary Cuban Celia Cruz, the Salsa Queen or the Guarachera of Cuba as many know her, is already immortalized on a 25-cent coin and the coins began to be distributed on Monday, the United States Mint, the official source of new U.S. currencies, announced.
💃🏾 Releasing into circulation today! The Celia Cruz Quarter is the 14th coin in the American Women Quarters™ Program. Learn more about the coin and the honoree at https://t.co/Tya9Ibxp1v #HerQuarter @SIAmericanWomen @womenshistory @WCPInst, @CeliaCruz 🎶 pic.twitter.com/s9R93zLaMA
— United States Mint (@usmint) August 5, 2024
Celia Cruz, considered one of the most influential Latin women in history and remembered for her wonderful expression "¡Azúcar!," was chosen alongside four other women as part of the award winners for the American Women Quarters in 2024, an initiative that celebrates the achievements and contributions of women in the United States.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
Celia Cruz is the fourth of five coins that will be launched this year and the number 14 coin of women commemorated in the program.
“The fourth coin of the 2024 American Women Quarters Program celebrates the life and legacy of Celia Cruz,” said Mint Director Ventris C. Gibson. “Celia Cruz’s influence reached well beyond her music. She was proud of and celebrated her Cuban culture, which empowered Afro-Latino Americans in embracing their heritage, making her an important and enduring cultural icon.”
The American Mint artist, Phebe Hemphill, designed and sculpted the image.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
“I knew I had to make the design for superstar Celia Cruz as dynamic as she was,” said Hemphill. “I watched her perform in her famous rumba dress and tried to create a design that truly reflected her greatness and vitality.”
The reverse (tails) features a dynamic depiction of Celia Cruz flashing her dazzling smile while performing in a rumba style dress. Her signature catchphrase “¡AZÚCAR!” is inscribed on the right.
The other women elected were Patsy Takemoto Mink, the first black woman to serve in Congress, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, a Civil War-era surgeon, women's rights defender and abolitionist. Pauli Murray, a poet, writer, activist, lawyer and episcopal priest, as well as a firm defender of civil rights, and Zitkala-Ša, also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, an author, composer, educator and political activist for Native American rights.
Each 2024 AWQ honoree is a powerful, inspiring example of the breadth, depth, and range of accomplishments, and the experiences demonstrated by these extraordinary women speak to the contributions women have always made in the history of our country. Coins featuring additional honorees will continue to ship through 2025.
The singer of songs such as "La Vida es un Carnaval," "La Negra Tiene Tumbao," "Ríe y Llora," among others, was described by the United States Mint as a "cultural icon and one of the most popular Latin artists of the twentieth century. Known as "The Queen of Salsa", Cruz's numerous honors and awards include four Latin Grammy awards, the National Medal of Arts, and a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Grammy.
The Queen of Salsa, who was also a vocalist for La Sonora Matancera and Fania All Stars, left Cuba in the 1960s and never returned to her homeland after being forbidden to return.
She died on July 16, 2003, in Fort Lee, New Jersey, after struggling with a brain tumor. Her remains are found at the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.
