She was the first woman to appear on a US coin

Since coins were first used around 700 B.C., they have included mythological figures, national emblems, and political personalities. Roman emperors began employing coin designs in the first century to commemorate not just their heads of state but also their wives and families. The first woman with a name to appear on a US coin is Queen Isabella. After 400 years had passed since Christopher Columbus' first trip, a commemorative quarter was released in 1893. She also made history by becoming the first woman to be depicted on a US postage stamp in the same year. Columbus and Isabella were both depicted on the eight-cent stamp.

With congressional clearance, the first woman to appear on a U.S. currency made her debut at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. The "Isabella quarter" was the idea of the exposition's Board of Lady Managers, who demanded more female representation on the commemorative coins struck for the occasion at Susan B. Anthony's urging. Isabella is shown on one side as a young, newly-crowned queen; the allegorical figure on the other side stands in for women's industry. Christopher Columbus' 1492 trip to the Americas was commemorated at the World's Columbian Exposition. Columbus was shown at the 1892 World's Columbian Exposition Half Dollar. Due to her assistance in facilitating the expedition, Queen Isabella was the subject of the 1893 quarter.