The 14th quarter of the American Women Quarters Program, featuring the late Cuban singer Celia Cruz, is now available for purchase. This officially marks the legendary “Queen of Salsa” as the first Afro-Latina featured on U.S. currency.
As one of the five honorees of the program’s 2024 release, the U.S. Mint recognizes her
as “one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century.” Cruz, whose full name is Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso, is shown smiling on the reverse side of the new coin as she dons a guajira-style dress beside her motto, “¡AZÚCAR!” According to the National Museum of African American History, her signature catchphrase, “sugar,” describes how she liked to drink her coffee and is a gesture of remembrance of the enslaved Africans who worked on Cuban sugar plantations.“To have been honored by the U.S. Mint in this way would have surprised her greatly since she was a simple and humble woman,” said artistic representative and the executor of her estate, Omer Pardillo-Cid, in an Aug. 12 announcement of the quarter.
The
cultural icon was born in Havana, Cuba, on October 21, 1925. Influenced by her exposure to diverse music in her Santos Suárez neighborhood, a young Cruz discovered her passion to become a singer, leading her to study at Havana’s National Conservatory of Music. As previously highlighted by BLACK ENTERPRISE, the international sensation is known for her Spanish-language global hits that are a celebration of culture. Cruz has contributed significantly to the development of salsa music, a genre she helped popularize and innovate, as one of the few women to thrive in the male-dominated genre. Her impactful works earned her three Grammy awards, four Latin Grammy awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was inducted into Billboard’s Latin Music Hall of Fame and the International Latin Music Hall of Fame and honored with a Presidential Medal of Arts.Cruz died on July 16, 2003, which BE previously noted was due to cancer complications. Her debut on the U.S. Quarter comes ahead of her centennial in 2025. The honor follows the June release of Celia Cruz En Vivo: 100 Años de Azúcar
(Celia Cruz Live: 100 Years of Azúcar), a commemorative album produced by Loud And Live Studios. The Celia Cruz Estate has partnered with South Florida-based healthcare provider Leon Medical Centers (LMC) for an exclusive giveaway of the singer’s coin that fans can register to receive in commemorative packaging from LMC.The four-year American Women Quarters Program began in 2022 and runs throughout 2025.