Celebrating an influential preserver of Hawaiian culture, the United States Mint will release 2023 Edith Kanakaʻole quarters today at Noon ET. The quarter appears as the newest strike in the U.S. Mint’s four-year series of American Women Quarters™.
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Options include rolls and bags with quarters struck from the Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco Mints
Edith Kanakaʻole, known by many as Aunt Edith, was born in Honomu, Hawaii in 1913. She began composing traditional Hawaiian chants in 1946, later choreographing hula to her music. A few years later she founded a Hālau to teach hula to others. Her influence did not stop there, however. Kanakaʻole was instrumental in starting the first Hawaiian language program for public schools and would eventually teach at Hawaiʻi Community College and at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo to help ensure the preservation of Hawaiian culture.
This quarter "is an unbelievable honor for our family, for our body of work at the Edith Kanaka‘ole Foundation in carrying on her legacy and her teachings, for our home and for our people," said Kanakaʻole’s granddaughter and Executive Director of the Edith Kanaka‘ole Foundation Huihui Kanahele-Mossman, Ph.D.
New quarter products include:
- Two-Roll Sets for $40 – containing one roll of 40 quarters from the Philadelphia Mint and one roll of 40 quarters from the Denver Mint
- Three-Roll Sets for $60 – containing three 40 quarter rolls, with one from the Philadelphia Mint, one from the Denver Mint and one from the San Francisco Mint
- 100-Coin Bags for $45 – 100 quarters from either the Philadelphia or Denver Mint
Of these options, the San Francisco Mint-struck quarters are the most desired as they are produced only for numismatic purposes like for the three-roll set.
"Because of overwhelming demand, much of the production of the three-roll sets is accounted for through subscription. A limited quantity will be available for purchase on March 27 at noon EDT," the Mint said in a statement.
The Philadelphia and Denver Mints strike coins for general circulation, meaning Edith Kanakaʻole quarters from each facility will eventually end up in pocket change while those from the San Francisco Mint will not. Regular circulating "P" and "D" Kanaka’ole quarters started shipping today to Federal Reserve Banks and their coin terminals for distribution into circulation.
Edith Kanakaʻole Quarter Designs
A portrait of Edith Kanakaʻole appears on the reverse (tails side) of each new quarter dollar. The design depicts her hair and lei po’o (head lei) morphing into the elements of a Hawaiian landscape, symbolizing her importance in the preservation of Hawaiian landscape and culture.
The inscription "E hō mai ka ‘ike" translates as "granting the wisdom," and is a reference to the intertwined role hula and chants play in this preservation. Additional inscriptions include "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," "E PLURIBUS UNUM," "25¢," and "EDITH KANAKAʻOLE."
The reverse was designed by Artistic Infusion Program Designer Emily Damstra. Sculpting was completed by United States Mint Medallic Artist Renata Gordon.
All coins of the American Women Quarters program bear the same obverse (heads side) portrait of George Washington. The effigy to the first President of the United States was designed by artist Laura Gardin Fraser to mark Washington’s 200th birthday in 1932.
Inscriptions on the obverse include "LIBERTY," "IN GOD WE TRUST" and "2023."
Quarter Specifications
| Denomination: | Quarter |
| Finish: | Uncirculated |
| Composition: | 8.33% nickel, balance copper |
| Weight: | 5.670 grams |
| Diameter: | 0.955 inch (24.26 mm) |
| Edge: | Reeded |
| Mint and Mint Mark: | Philadelphia – P Denver – D San Francisco – S |
| Privy Mark: | None |
Ordering
Edith Kanakaʻole quarters may be ordered by visiting the U.S. Mint’s online catalog quarter products.
Initial household order limits have been established at 3 per roll option and 10 per bag option. Product limits are in place of 9,140 two-roll sets, 12,620 three-roll sets and 7,860 per bag.
U.S. Mint’s Women Quarters Program
Public Law 116-330 authorized the American Women Quarters series which debuted in 2022 with strikes honoring Maya Angelou, Dr. Sally Ride, Wilma Mankiller, Nina Otero-Warren, and Anna May Wong. The first of the five quarters for 2023 depict Bessie Coleman. Forthcoming 2023 quarters honor:
- Eleanor Roosevelt – first lady, author, and civil liberties advocate
- Jovita Idar – Mexican-American journalist, activist, teacher, and suffragist
- Maria Tallchief – America’s first prima ballerina
A proof set of 2023 quarters launched March 21. Other types of sets with the quarters in proof, in uncirculated, in silver, and in special holiday ornaments will follow in intervals throughout the year.
the 3 roll set which has been unavailable under subscription (maybe 1 or 2 off and on from people who cancel their subscription) open the day of the sale at 1319 available. A little over 10% of the mintage number. Since none were available under subscription, this seems to support my theory that the mint holds around 10% out of what is available under subscription. On another note, looked at my credit card statement 2 days ago. There was a difference of $60 between amount already charged and the amount ‘available’, so even though the sale of the quarters doesn’t… Read more »
Tom, my understanding is that 10% what’s offered to dealers.
so how long will this supply last once sales open?
It’s possible you’re both right, Tom and Major D, in that while the Mint reserves 10% for dealers, another 10% may be held for coin release day.
You are correct, Sir Kaiser. Under the Mint’s Authorized Bulk Purchase Program, no more than 10% of products with limited quantities will be distributed under this program to dealers; and with the Subscription Program, 10% of the products are reserved for sale at launch out of the stated mintage/product limits.
Thank you for that verification, Good Sir Rich, especially since while I was fairly certain regarding my information I didn’t at that moment have the time to check for the original sources.
Beautiful design, will see if I can get 3 rolls today?
Wondering when the 2 1/2 or 3 oz silver coin will be out and what that price will be?
LT Sr., the US Mint has never produced a 3 oz silver product (coin or medal). The Mint has only produced 1 oz silver coins and medals, 2.5 oz silver medals, and 5 oz silver coins.
The above comment should have mentioned (as a footnote) that the Mint has of course also produced many different coins containing less than 1 oz of silver.
Thank you Rich, I am an older collector and get forgetful about little things. This particular coin would be amazing in a 5 oz version, don’t you think? The mint puts out so many products that I do get confused. Now I’m thinking about selling a lot of my graded and raw coins so that I can enjoy some of the rewards. I know I will lose money on the many proof sets that I have but I sure have enjoyed looking at them over the years so in my mind I can’ lose. The beauty in the detail even… Read more »
I couldn’t agree more, Low Tech Sr.; this particular AWQ would look absolutely spectacular in the Five Ounce Burnished Silver version!
so were you able to get a set of 3 rolls? Not sure when they were unavailable – sometime before 4:30, but I haven’t been looking to see when that happened earlier.
Yes, I was able to get the 3 rolls set and I guess I was thinking of the 2.5 oz silver medal, I haven’t bought any but I recall that they have them in the same designs as the America the Beautiful Quarters, please correct me if I’m wrong. Was wondering if they are doing the 2.5 oz silver medal with this series too.
ATB had 5-oz silver bullion and 5-oz silver uncirculated/burnished “quarter-dollar” coins. Nothing like that with the AWQ series.
Just to be clear, ATB had no 2.5 oz coins. And AWQ has no larger sizes in the same design.
Although, Major D, if it wasn’t for the ridiculously high premiums for silver products the Mint now charges, this wouldn’t be such a bad idea at all.
congrats on getting the rolls.
I received an e-mail at 8:16 indicating my rolls have been shipped.
Maybe I can have them graded ‘first early release’. NOT
Tom, you must be on the VIP list! I’m always on the “week after” list. But still looking forward to getting mine nonetheless, even if late.
The main reason I want to get them is because I love the design as I mentioned earlier and the S coins will not be in general circulation. The only way to get the S was to in the 3 roll set so here we are. Just curious if I were to send my roll to a high quality reputable dealer, about how much do you think the cost of having a roll graded by PCGS would be?
If you want to have all 40 quarters in the roll graded, they will need to be separated and each graded individually. I’ll leave to others here about the cost. Myself, I don’t send anything out for slabbing.
I could’ve purchased the 3 roll set, but my common sense told me not to pay double for clad quarters.
As opposed to 80x for a silver dollar? (guess I’m guilty of throwing common sense out the window on that one….)
At least you got some of that beautiful silver there, Major D.
I did go for them last year, Craig, but $300 a year is a bit much to complete the set.
“Aunt Edith” would be very proud of this numismatic honor. These quarters will be wildly popular in the “Aloha State” of Hawai’i I have a feeling.
The non-profit foundation named after her probably bought many bags & rolls to sell or give free as a gift for joining the group.
NumisdudeTX
Seth, I agree it should be special for the state. However, outside of us numismatic junkies here, I wonder how much of the public even knows about this quarter series? I was surprised that all of the bank tellers I’ve dealt with don’t even know about it- and I’ve visited many branches in my search for them.
Major D.,
It is true, and I don’t know why bank employees & even many cashiers at big stores like Wal-Mart, don’t know about the $1 coins issued for circulation & these AWQ coins. The Mint needs to do some training programs at banks for sure.
NumisdudeTX
In my experience, Seth, I have found that almost no one in America has known anything about one dollar coins since the very first were released. As far as the public is concerned, the only $1 we have is the paper bill.