Video above: America 250 storytelling project kicks off in July 2025

(NEXSTAR) — As we approach 2026, don’t expect to see fresh pennies in your spare change, but prepare for an exciting change in the design of some U.S. coins. The U.S. Mint is set to release newly designed dimes, quarters, and half-dollar coins to mark the country’s 250th anniversary.

This special minting, in celebration of America’s semiquincentennial, will showcase unique designs that pay tribute to the nation’s founding values and its rich history. The U.S. Mint has announced that these commemorative coins will be available exclusively during the year 2026.

Each coin will feature the dual dates “1776 ~ 2026,” symbolizing the period from the nation’s birth to its 250th year. Typically, U.S. coins only bear the year they are minted, making this design element especially notable.

Each of these coins, which will be put into circulation, will be engraved with two dates, “1776 ~ 2026.” Except for a few coins, only the year in which they were minted is ever imprinted on them.

The smallest alteration you may notice is to the nickels that enter circulation next year. The five-cent coins will have the “1776 ~ 2026” dates on their face beside President Thomas Jefferson.

The new dimes will look much, much different. Gone is President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the face and the torch, olive branch, and oak branch on the reverse.

In 2026, newly minted 10-cent coins will feature “Liberty as the winds of revolution waft through her hair” as “her liberty cap bears stars and stripes,” the Mint explains. On the reverse is an eagle clutching arrows with its talons – a representation of colonists fighting for America’s independence – above the text “ONE DIME” and “LIBERTY OVER TYRANNY.”

It’s the quarters that may prompt your need to start a collection. There will be five designs available, honoring the Mayflower Compact, the Revolutionary War, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Gettysburg Address.

On the Mayflower quarter, you’ll find two Pilgrims embracing, and on the reverse, the Mayflower and the words “MAYFLOWER COMPACT.”

President George Washington is on the face of the Revolutionary War quarter, while a Continental Army soldier at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, graces the reverse. “REVOLUTIONARY WAR” is also engraved on the reverse.

Jefferson, of course, is featured on the Declaration of Independence quarter, acknowledging his work as the author. The reverse features the Liberty Bell, complete with its iconic crack that echoes “the fragility of a young nation at its founding.”

The “Father of the Constitution,” President James Madison, naturally appears on the face of the quarter paying tribute to the document. On the back is Philadelphia’s Independence Hall and the inscription, “WE THE PEOPLE.”

Though the coin he appears on has, for the most part, been axed, President Abraham Lincoln will have a moment to shine in 2026 thanks the the Gettysburg Address quarter. He appears on the face, while on the back are “two hands grasping each other” and the text “A NEW NATION CONCEIVED IN LIBERTY.”

The slideshow below shows all of the new quarter designs coming next year:

In addition to the new coins entering circulation is a collectible semiquincentennial Enduring Liberty half dollar.

On it are the Statue of Liberty and Liberty passing her torch.

While there won’t be any new pennies entering circulation next year, there will be a semiquincentennial design available for purchase from the U.S. Mint.

They look exactly like the newest pennies in your collection, but with the 1776 ~ 2026 dates beside Lincoln on the face.

“The designs on these historic coins depict the story of America’s journey toward a ‘more perfect union,’ and celebrate America’s defining ideals of liberty,” said Acting Mint Director Kristie McNally. “We hope to offer each American the opportunity to hold our nation’s storied 250 years of history in the palms of their hands as we Connect America through Coins.”