The U.S. Mint announced Monday it has begun circulating the first coin in its American Women Quarters Program, starting with Maya Angelou, the late poet, novelist, and civil rights activist.
Angelou is the first black woman to appear on the coin. Angelou, who died in 2014 at 86, rose to national acclaim after publishing her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in 1969. In 2010, she was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Barack Obama.