安娜·梅·黄是好莱坞首位华裔女星，她的肖像将出现在美国新发行的25美分硬币上，成为首位出现在美国硬币上的亚裔美国人。她在1920年代的电影中表现突出，推动了亚裔演员的角色发展。此硬币是美国铸币局为表彰在艺术、科学等领域做出贡献的美国女性而发行的一系列硬币中的第五枚。
SHANGHAI EXPRESS, Anna May Wong, 1932
The face of Anna May Wong, a groundbreaking 1920s movie star, will be on quarters next week, making her the first Asian American to appear on a U.S. coin.
Ms. Wong, born Wong Liu Tsong in 1905 in Los Angeles, was Hollywood’s first Chinese-American movie star. She appeared in more than 60 films, including 1922’s “The Toll of the Sea,” one of the first silent movies filmed in color. Ms. Wong, who also had roles on stage and television, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, about a year before she died.
A new U.S. quarter will feature the face of Anna May Wong, Hollywood’s first Chinese-American movie star.
The coin’s tail side features a close-up of Ms. Wong’s face, her chin resting on her hand. A finger points toward her name inscripted by her cheek.
“This pose might suggest she has been waiting for the kind of recognition that being on a United States coin might finally bring,” Emily S. Damstra, who designed the coin, said on her website.
Round spots surrounding Ms. Wong represent the lightbulbs of a movie theater marquee sign, Ms. Damstra said. The coin’s other side looks like a typical quarter with a profile of George Washington.
The U.S. Mint said the Anna May Wong coins will be shipped out starting Monday, Oct. 24. Shipments will continue until early January. It couldn’t predict how many of the Anna May Wong coins will be circulated, since it depends on orders by the Federal Reserve, but the U.S. Mint said it sent an average of 500 million similar coins featuring other American women.
Ventris Gibson, the director of the U.S. Mint, said Ms. Wong was picked because she pushed for more roles for Asian-American actors and because she overcame challenges and obstacles during her lifetime.
The coin is the fifth in a series of quarters meant to honor American women who made their mark in the arts, sciences and other fields. The U.S. Mint is releasing five of these quarters every year from 2022 to 2025.
Writer Maya Angelou and astronaut Sally Ride were on quarters released earlier this year. The first one next year will feature Bessie Coleman, the first Black woman to earn an international pilot’s license.