The Franklin Mint 2016 25¢ 1/4 oz Gold Standing Liberty SP70 ANACS Coin w/ Box

Washington Quarter:
The United States Treasury initially conceived of a limited issue commemorative coin to honor the bicentennial of George Washington's birth. However, after winning over the American public so convincingly upon its debut in 1932, the new coin was retained indefinitely. The obverse of the coin features the bust of George Washington, while the reverse shows an eagle with expanded wings clutching a bundle of arrows over an olive branch.

The design is the work of sculptor John Flanagan and came about as a result of an open competition held by the U.S. Treasury Department in 1931. A judging panel initially selected the submission of Laura Gardin Fraser (wife of Buffalo Nickel designer, James Earle Fraser) as the winner, but was overruled by Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon, who declared Flanagan's design victorious. Though Mellon cited Flanagan's superior work as his reason for his decision, some believe the truth was that he simply could not bring himself to award first prize to a woman. In 1999, the United States Mint issued a five-dollar commemorative gold piece marking the 200th anniversary of Washington's death which featured Laura Gardin Fraser's design submission from the 1931 Washington Quarter contest.

For the Bicentennial of the United States in 1976, the U.S. Mint held another contest and requested design concepts for a reverse to be used on the Washington Quarter for the celebratory year. Similar competitions for the Bicentennial celebration were also held for the dollar and half-dollar coin designs. An image by Jack L. Ahr, featuring a regimental drummer in colonial army uniform adjacent to a torch surrounded by 13 stars, was chosen to appear on the quarter coin. The dual date of 1776-1976 was added to the obverse. John Flanagan's original design resumed production in 1977.

In 1999, the United States Mint celebrated the debut of the 50 State Quarters program. For every year in the subsequent decade, the Mint released five different reverse designs for the Washington quarter with each design honoring a different State in the Union. States were recognized by order of their entrance into the Union. The District of Columbia and United States Territories were honored in the same manner throughout the year in 2009. In 2010, the United States Mint began a 56-issue series for the Washington Quarter titled America the Beautiful Quarters program. Reverse designs in this series will feature national parks and sites in each of the 50 states, District of Columbia, and U.S. Territories.