Jack L. Ahr designed the drummer reverse selected for the 1976 United States Bicentennial quarter.
The design shows a colonial drummer beside a torch of victory, surrounded by 13 stars representing the original states. The obverse retained John Flanagan’s familiar portrait of George Washington, while the reverse carried the dual date “1776–1976.”
Ahr’s design was one of three winning Bicentennial coin designs announced in 1974. Seth G. Huntington designed the half dollar reverse, and Dennis R. Williams designed the dollar reverse. The U.S. Mint produced the special quarter in both copper-nickel and silver-clad versions.
The drummer design is sometimes confused with Archibald Willard’s famous 1876 painting The Spirit of ’76. Ahr acknowledged that his son served as the model for the drummer, while critics noted similarities between the coin, the painting, and a 1973 postage stamp.