The U.S. Mint is giving American pocket change a fresh look in 2027 with new coin designs celebrating youth sports and Paralympic athletics. The upcoming collection will introduce five redesigned quarters featuring popular sports, along with a half dollar highlighting wheelchair basketball. The changes also include updated portraits of George Washington and John F. Kennedy, marking the start of a four-year coin program that will bring more sports to circulating coins through 2030.
Five New Quarter Designs Will Celebrate Youth Sports
American sports culture is getting a fresh place in everyday pocket change, with the U.S. Mint preparing five new quarter designs for 2027 that celebrate the activities young athletes enjoy across the country. The first five sports featured will be baseball, golf, soccer, softball and snowboarding. Each sport will appear on the reverse, or tails side, of a separate quarter, giving the coins distinct designs rather than repeating the same image across the entire release. The collection recognizes the role sports can play in teaching teamwork, perseverance and cooperation, while highlighting activities that attract young participants from different backgrounds. The designs are part of the new Youth Sports Coin Collection, a four-year program running from 2027 through 2030. The Mint plans to release five youth sports quarters annually, eventually covering 20 sports. The 2027 lineup brings together familiar American pastimes, such as baseball and softball, with activities such as golf and snowboarding. These coins will also give collectors a new series to follow, as each year’s release introduces another group of sports. The designs are intended for circulating coins, meaning the program is not limited to special collector-only pieces.
George Washington Will Get a Fresh Look on Quarters
One of the most noticeable changes will be on the front of the quarter, where George Washington will appear in a newly designed portrait created specifically for the Youth Sports Coin Collection. Washington has featured on the quarter since 1932, making his likeness one of the most familiar images in American coinage. The new design will preserve that historical connection while giving the coins a different appearance from quarters issued under the previous program. The reverse sides will change to showcase individual youth sports, but the obverse, or heads side, will share a common Washington design across all five 2027 quarters. This approach allows the Mint to maintain a recognizable national figure while making each coin distinct through its sport-specific reverse. The redesign also follows the requirements of the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, which authorized new circulating coin designs for this period. For collectors, the updated portrait offers another variation of a long-standing coin design. For everyday users, the quarter will remain familiar in denomination and purpose, even as its artwork changes. The new portrait is therefore a visual update rather than a replacement of Washington’s place in the quarter’s history.
The Half Dollar Will Introduce a New Paralympic Sports Design
The half dollar will join the 2027 coin program with a design that brings adaptive athletics into the spotlight. Its reverse will feature wheelchair basketball, a sport in which athletes use specially designed wheelchairs to maneuver, pass and shoot while competing on a basketball court. The choice is part of a broader effort to recognize sports tailored to athletes with a range of disabilities, including physical, vision and intellectual impairments. On the front of the coin, the Mint will feature a newly designed likeness of President John F. Kennedy. His portrait has long been associated with the half dollar, first appearing on the denomination in 1964, following his assassination in November 1963. The new obverse will preserve that connection while giving the coin an updated appearance for the program. Unlike the five annual youth sports quarters, the half dollar will focus on one Paralympic sport each year. Wheelchair basketball leads the series in 2027, followed by para climbing in 2028, para ice hockey in 2029 and para snowboarding in 2030. Together, these designs will highlight athletic achievement and the range of sports in which athletes with disabilities compete.
The New Designs Will Launch a Four-Year Coin Program
The 2027 designs are only the beginning of a larger plan that will introduce new sports-themed coins every year through 2030. Under the four-year Youth Sports Coin Collection, the Mint will release five quarters annually, covering 20 sports in total, alongside one half dollar dedicated to a Paralympic sport each year. After the 2027 lineup of baseball, golf, soccer, softball and snowboarding, the 2028 quarters will feature American football, swimming, wrestling, gymnastics and lacrosse. The 2029 group will highlight basketball, tennis, cheerleading, track and field, and karate. In 2030, the final five quarters will feature figure skating, skiing, skateboarding, volleyball and ice hockey. The half-dollar series will follow its own four-sport schedule, beginning with wheelchair basketball and ending with para snowboarding. Public input also helped shape the quarter program. In early 2025, the Mint invited Americans to review a proposed list of sports and share their preferences through an online survey. The agency developed that list in consultation with the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition and the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. The initiative is authorized by the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, which established the framework for new circulating coin designs during this period.
