the first inscription choice of D.C. voters , which was `` taxation without representation , '' in protest of the district 's lack of voting representation in Congress . Edward Kennedy `` Duke '' Ellington received 13 Grammy Awards and a Pulitzer Prize , among numerous other honors . His orchestra 's theme song , `` Take the A Train , '' is one of the best-known compositions in jazz . Ellington was born in the district in 1899 and composed more than 3,000 songs , including `` Satin Doll , '' `` Perdido '' and `` Do n't Get Around Much Any More . '' `` It Do n't Mean a Thing If It Ai n't Got That Swing '' helped usher in the swing era of jazz . Ellington performed with other famous artists , including John Coltrane , Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald , and he traveled around the world with his orchestras . He died in 1974 at the age of 75 . The first African-American to appear on a circulating coin was York , a slave who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their `` Corps of Discovery '' adventures across America at the dawn of
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The United States Mint launched a new coin Tuesday featuring jazz legend Duke Ellington , making him the first African-American to appear by himself on a circulating U.S. coin . The District of Columbia coin honoring Duke Ellington was introduced Tuesday in Washington . Ellington , the composer of classics including `` It Do n't Mean a Thing If It Ai n't Got That Swing '' appears on the `` tails '' side of the new D.C. quarter . George Washington is on the `` heads '' side , as is usual with U.S. quarters . The coin was issued to celebrate Ellington 's birthplace , the District of Columbia . U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy introduced the new coin at a news conference Tuesday at the Smithsonian Institution 's National Museum of American History . Members of Ellington 's family were present at the ceremony , and the jazz band of Duke Ellington High School performed . Ellington won the honor by a vote of D.C. residents , beating out abolitionist Frederick Douglass and astronomer Benjamin Banneker . Also on the coin is the phrase `` Justice for all . '' The Mint rejected