Thomas Jefferson appears on the obverse of the 2026 America250 Declaration of Independence quarter.
Jefferson is featured because he was the principal drafter of the Declaration of Independence. The Second Continental Congress adopted the document on July 4, 1776, announcing that the thirteen colonies regarded themselves as independent states. The quarter’s reverse features the Liberty Bell.
Jefferson did not write the Declaration entirely alone. The drafting committee included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston, and the committee presented Jefferson’s draft to Congress. Congress then revised the text before adoption.
The quarter’s portrait should not be confused with the Jefferson nickel, which also depicts Jefferson but belongs to the regular U.S. coin series. The America250 quarter is a special 2026 design tied to the Semiquincentennial and uses Jefferson’s connection to the Declaration as its historical focus.