Duke Ellington Honored on D.C. Quarter

Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington has done something that no other African American has ever done. The jazz legend became the first to appear solo on circulating U.S. currency today when the U.S. Mint unveiled his image on the new District of Columbia quarters.The D.C. coin features Ellington seated at a grand piano with the inscriptions, “District of Columbia,” “Duke Ellington,” and “Justice for All,” the district’s motto.The new quarter was issued through a program similar to the 50 state quarters program that honored each state in the order it was admitted into the union. Since the District of Columbia isn’t a state, it wasn’t allowed to participate in the program. However, the Mint plans to honor D.C., along with Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands in 2009.Make sure you hold on to this if you get one..