New U.S. Coin Honors Astronomer Vera Rubin
The U.S. Mint has issued a quarter-dollar coin celebrating the life and work of the co-discoverer of dark matter in galaxies.
By Richard Tresch Fienberg, Sky and Telescope - June 4, 2025
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/new-u-s-coin-honors-astronomer-vera-rubin/
The late astronomer Vera Rubin has an observatory named for her, and it’s on track to begin a 10-year sky survey from atop Cerro Pachón in northern Chile later this year. Now she also has a U.S. quarter-dollar coin with her likeness on the reverse. You don’t need to wait to get one in change at a convenience store — you can order some directly from the U.S. Mint: https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-programs/american-women-quarters-program/
Rubin’s coin was minted as part of the American Women Quarters series, launched in 2022 to honor “extraordinary women whose achievements, triumphs, and legacies reflect the strength and resilience” of the United States, according to a May 27th press release from the U.S. Mint. Five women have been celebrated each year, and the 2025 group is the last. The 2022 cohort included physicist-astronaut Sally Ride; Rubin is the only astronomer to be memorialized in the series, which wraps up this year. ….
