2023-P Edith Kanaka'ole

Edith Kenao Kanaka'ole carried the chant traditions of her family across seven decades, training generations of dancers at her Halau O Kekuhi and teaching Hawaiian language at the University of Hawaii at Hilo when most universities ignored Indigenous curriculum. She composed the hula chants for Pele and the volcanic landscape she lived beside, and she helped found the Edith Kanaka'ole Foundation to keep that body of work in living practice rather than archived behind glass. The 2023 quarter struck in her honor at the Philadelphia facility ran longer than any other 2023-P American Women issue, with 372,800,000 pieces produced for general circulation. That output reflects strong commercial demand for the AWQ rolls early in the year and an aggressive draw schedule from the Federal Reserve Banks serving the eastern districts.

Emily Damstra's reverse portrait shows Kanaka'ole framed by stylized native flora, with her hair flowing into the field as if caught mid-chant, and the inscription E ho mau i ka 'ike (Continuing the knowledge) wrapping the lower arc. Renata Gordon's sculpting holds crisp relief on the leaf veining and the hair textures that flank the central portrait. Laura Gardin Fraser's 1932 Washington bust occupies the obverse. The Philadelphia strike carries no mintmark suffix on the obverse field beside Washington's queue. Composition is the standard 91.67 percent copper and 8.33 percent nickel clad over a copper core, weight 5.67 grams, diameter 24.3 millimeters, reeded edge. Authentication on circulated examples focuses on the sharpness of the lettering inside the lei motif and the absence of doubling on the date.

Roll collectors who pulled original mint-wrapped quarters in early 2023 have the easiest path to MS66 and MS67 grades from Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC), and population reports already show a healthy spread at those tiers. Read the full Washington Quarters (American Women) series history.