Wikipedia:Today's featured article/June 13, 2013

The Isabella quarter was a United States commemorative coin struck in 1893, and is the only U.S. commemorative quarter that was not intended for circulation. It was authorized by Congress at the request of the Board of Lady Managers of the World's Columbian Exposition. The Board wanted a woman to design it, but the sculptor Caroline Peddle left the project after disagreements with Bureau of the Mint officials, who then decided to have the Mint's Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber do the work. The coin depicts Queen Isabella I of Castile, in Spain, who sponsored Columbus's voyages to the New World. The reverse, showing a kneeling woman winding flax, symbolizes women's industry. The quarter's design was deprecated in the numismatic press. The coins did not sell well at the Exposition; its price of $1 was the same as for the Columbian half dollar and the quarter was seen as the worse deal. Nearly half of the authorized issue was returned to the Mint to be melted; thousands more were purchased at face value by the Lady Managers and entered the coin market in the early 20th century. Today, they are popular with collectors and valued in the hundreds to thousands of dollars.

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