2024-D Patsy Takemoto Mink

Denver's 2024 Patsy Takemoto Mink quarter posted a mintage of 187,200,000, a substantial issue that nevertheless trailed the Philadelphia strike of the same design. Mink's biography is a study in persistent door-pushing. Born in 1927 on Maui, she pursued a medical career until the discriminatory admissions of the postwar era forced a redirection. Her 1951 University of Chicago law degree opened, eventually, a Honolulu practice, and her 1965 swearing-in as the first woman of color in the United States House of Representatives marked the beginning of a congressional career that produced Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the federal ban on sex discrimination in education programs receiving federal funding. After leaving Congress in 1977 she returned in 1990 and served until her death in 2002. Title IX was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in her honor that year.

The reverse design by Artistic Infusion Program artist Elana Hagler reads strongly in business-strike form. Hair texture, the architectural elements of the design, and the inscription all render cleanly at full strike, and most Denver examples show good central detail with the program's standard master-die work. Specifications: 91.67 percent copper and 8.33 percent nickel bonded to a copper core, weight 5.67 grams, diameter 24.3 millimeters, reeded edge, D mintmark on the obverse below the truncation of Washington's bust. Authentication on a Denver business strike focuses on the punch style and placement of the D mintmark against official Mint imagery, edge integrity, and weight specification. Counterfeiting is not a realistic threat at face value.

Set builders looking for premium examples will find MS67 readily available and MS68 reasonably attainable through Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC). Denver bank-roll examples occasionally surface in original-mint condition from regional dealers, which provides a reliable acquisition path for set builders pursuing certified gem grades. For broader series notes see the Washington Quarters (American Women) series history.