The Mayflower Compact is honored on the first 2026 U.S. Semiquincentennial quarter released into circulation.
The quarter is part of a five-design series created for the United States’ 250th anniversary. Its design recalls the Mayflower Compact, the agreement made by English colonists aboard the Mayflower in 1620 before they established Plymouth Colony. The compact is often remembered as an early example of self-government among settlers in colonial North America.
The coin’s design includes two Pilgrims on the obverse and the Mayflower on the reverse. The United States Mint released this quarter into circulation on January 5, 2026, alongside other semiquincentennial coinage. That release made it the first quarter in the anniversary series to enter everyday use.
The Mayflower Compact is not the same document as the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted in 1776 and is the central event commemorated by America250. The compact predates independence by 156 years and represents an earlier stage in the development of colonial political institutions.