Skip to content
Business

The U.S. Mint unveils new coins for the Semiquincentennial, featuring three Philly landmarks

The U.S. Mint unveiled new dimes, quarters, and half-dollars at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

The obverse of the Declaration of Independence quarter is shown on screen as the U.S. Mint unveils new coins for the Semiquincentennial at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia Wednesday night. The new dimes, quarters, and half-dollars feature three Philly landmarks.
The obverse of the Declaration of Independence quarter is shown on screen as the U.S. Mint unveils new coins for the Semiquincentennial at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia Wednesday night. The new dimes, quarters, and half-dollars feature three Philly landmarks.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

The U.S. is turning 250 next year, and among its birthday gifts will be newly designed quarters, dimes, and half-dollar coins.

On Wednesday evening, the U.S. Mint unveiled the new coins at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

“The designs on these historic coins depict the story of America’s journey toward a ‘more perfect union,’ and celebrate America’s defining ideals of liberty,” said Kristie McNally, the Mint’s acting director. “We hope to offer each American the opportunity to hold our nation’s storied 250 years of history in the palms of their hands as we connect America through coins.”

Several coins feature Philadelphia-area landmarks.

Three separate quarter designs include images of Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed; the Liberty Bell, housed and managed by the National Park Service in Philadelphia; and a Continental Army soldier at Valley Forge commemorating the Revolutionary War.

The new dime represents the founding era of the country. Its design includes Liberty depicted as a woman wearing a cap patterned with stars and stripes. The other side of the dime will feature an American eagle, which was on early dimes that circulated in 1796, and it hasn’t appeared on the coin since 1837, according to the U.S Mint.

In addition to the Philadelphia-area landmarks, the quarters also don images of pilgrims and the Mayflower. The five new quarters reference the Mayflower Compact, the Revolutionary War, The Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Gettysburg address, and also feature images of Presidents James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln.

The half-dollar coin is intended to look to the future of the country with an image of the Statue of Liberty on one side, and on the other, a torch being passed from her hand to another hand.

The coins will be produced at the U.S. Mint facilities in Philadelphia and Denver and begin circulating in 2026. The new designs are authorized under legislation signed by President Donald Trump just before he left office in 2021. It noted that these coins can be issued for a one-year period starting in January 2026.

Philadelphia is expected to see an influx of visitors in 2026 for the Semiquincentennial.

This year, the U.S. Mint, which had 389 employees in Pennsylvania in 2024 according to federal database FedScope, stopped producing pennies in Philadelphia. The one-cent coins are more expensive to make than they are worth due to inflation and the high cost of metals.