Summer 2024 | Blaise Hayward | Statehood Quarters

The statehood quarters are a series of fifty circulating coins released by the United States Mint from 1999 to 2008. The reverse side of each coin features a design that commemorates the unique history, traditions, and symbols of each state, and the series was released in the same order that the states ratified the Constitution or were admitted into the Union. It became the most successful numismatic program in US history, with roughly half the country’s population collecting the coins. The words “E Pluribus Unum” are the one common element on each quarter’s reverse.

Hayward began his Statehood Quarters project in New York in July 2023 as he, like many others, had become increasingly concerned with the fractious state of politics. In their formal simplicity, Hayward’s photographs recall the official images published when each coin was first minted—an effort to evoke the communal enthusiasm the original quarters generated across the country. But the coins are no longer pristine; they are worn, with scratches and edges softened by passing through countless hands. Rather than tarnishes or flaws, these markings highlight a collective, shared use and perhaps reveal opportunities for a common understanding.