Anna May Wong to become first Asian American featured on US coin

Movie star Anna May Wong will be the first Asian American person to be featured on a US coin.

Wong will appear on the back of a quarter as part of the US Mint’s American Women Quarters Program, with coins set to be shipped in 2023 through 2025.

According to the US Mint, Wong’s career spanned across motion pictures, television and theater, leaving a “lasting legacy” for Asian American women in the entertainment industry. Many consider her Hollywood’s first Chinese American movie star.

Wong will appear on the reverse side of the quarter coin, with the design showing a close-up picture of her head in her hand, surrounded by bright lights.

Wong — who was born in 1905 in Los Angeles and died in 1961 — appeared in over 60 movies, both silent and with sound, and in one of the first made in Technicolor. She also appeared onstage in productions in London and New York.

As a part of the program, five women who have made contributions in a variety of fields including suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, humanities, science, space and the arts were chosen, according to the US Mint.

The other four coins feature poet and activist Maya Angelou, astronaut Sally Ride, Native American activist and Cherokee Nation Chief Wilma Mankiller and suffragist Nina Otero-Warren.

Wong’s coin — which is to be released next Tuesday — is the last one to be released, with the trailblazing actress being recognized for increasing representation and more multi-dimensional roles for Asian American actors.

The heads side of the quarter will still feature George Washington, in a portrait originally created by American sculptor Laura Gardin Fraser to mark the president’s 200^th birthday.  

“This quarter is designed to reflect the breadth and depth of accomplishments by Anna May Wong, who overcame challenges and obstacles she faced during her lifetime,” US Mint Director Ventris C. Gibson said in a press release.

“This quarter is designed to reflect the breadth and depth of accomplishments by Anna May Wong, who overcame challenges and obstacles she faced during her lifetime.”