‘Queen of Salsa’ Celia Cruz honored with new quarter

MIAMI (WFLA) — If you end up getting a newly minted quarter this year, you might notice some new faces.

One of them is Celia Cruz, the beloved “Queen of Salsa,” whose 100th birthday came around in 2025.

Cruz, who died in 2003, will be one of five women included in the United States Mint’s American Women Quarters Program. The other four are Patsy Takemoto Mink, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, Pauli Murray and Zitkala-?a.

The newly circulated coin includes Cruz in her traditional Cuban dress with her catchphrase “Azucar!” around the national motto.

“Celia received so many accolades during her lifetime that it was hard to expect a greater honor than those she had already accumulated during her legendary career,” said Omer Pardillo-Cid, Cruz’s last artistic representative and the executor of her estate. “But to have been honored by the U.S. Mint in this way is something that would have surprised her greatly since she was a simple and humble woman. The adjective ‘unique’ has been used a great deal, but I really can’t find another that is more correct to describe Celia Cruz. Unique and eternal.”

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