U.S. Treasury Announces Woman Will Be on $10 Bill
Say goodbye to the currency patriarchy.
Last Wednesday, the United States Treasury Department announced that it was going to put a woman on the $10 bill. The new design isn’t expected to be unveiled until 2020, but better late than never, right? It takes a lot of time to redesign currency to have aesthetic, accessibility, and anti-counterfeiting value. Additionally, 2020 will be the centennial anniversary of the 19th amendment, which granted women in the U.S. the right to vote.
It’s not the first time that a woman will be on currency. Martha Washington had a short spurt from 1891 to 1896, when her portrait was featured on the $1 Silver Certificate. Additionally, it’s been 87 years since any portrait has changed on a bill. It’s about time for a change.
You may recall the informal Women on 20s grassroots campaign, which unofficially elected Harriet Tubman to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. Redesigning the $20 bill makes sense; Jackson was opposed to the idea of paper money, and is probably rolling in his grave at the idea of being on such an integral piece of paper currency. It certainly is ironic to replace the portrait of the first secretary of the U.S. Treasury and creator of its monetary system with the portrait of someone else. However, more than that, it is definitely time to get a woman onto a bill. Additionally, there’s a high demand for a woman to be put on currency, and the $10 note was already scheduled to undergo changes.
According to NBC News, the $10 bill is currently overdue for a redesign because of “counterfeiting threats.” Indeed, the official government website for the project states that “the two main goals of currency redesign are staying ahead of counterfeiting threats by using the most technologically advanced security features for our bills, and institutionalizing our American history by using images that reflect the past and represent our current era.” The redesign of the $10 note will satisfy both of those goals.
The $100 bill was also recently redesigned for counterfeit prevention, as evidenced by its 3D security ribbon and a faint watermarked image of Benjamin Franklin to the right of his dominant portrait. Additionally, the large gold 100 on the back helps those with weak eyesight make a distinction between this and other notes. Likewise, the new $10 will have a new tactile feature to increase accessibility to the nation’s visually impaired community. Additionally, while the theme of the new $100 note was the Declaration of Independence, the theme of the new $10 note will be an Era of Democracy.
In a video on the official New 10 website, U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios elaborates upon the goals of redesigning currency. She explains,
“As we continue to incorporate the most advanced security features into our future currency design, we would also like to ensure that the next currency design best represents the value of democracy and the diversity on which this country was founded.”
Many people not excited about the idea of ridding Hamilton, such an important figure in the history of our nation’s Treasury, from currency. As such, “Secretary Lew has made clear that the image of Alexander Hamilton will remain part of the $10 note.” The Treasury is exploring options to make this possible. Hamilton’s restructured inclusion might be in the form of a watermark that fittingly prevents counterfeiting. Additionally, if the reverse of the current $10 bill is kept the same, Hamilton will still have a place. On the back of the current note, there is a portrait of the U.S. Treasury Department that features a minuscule statue of Hamilton.
It is currently undecided which historic woman (it is illegal to put a living person’s portrait on currency) will appear on the redesigned $10 bill. We do know that Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew believes that “the new $10 note should feature a woman who was a champion for our inclusive democracy,” in line with the selected theme for the bill. He will reveal the decision later this year.
The Treasury Department ensures that the public will have a say in which woman will be featured on the bill. Treasury officials will be conducting “roundtables, town halls, and other meetings to collect input” throughout the summer. In a testament to the power of social media, the Treasury has also created the hashtag #TheNew10 to make it easier to review the public’s input and ideas.
A quick search for the hashtag on Twitter reveals many deserving candidates, such as Harriett Tubman, Eleanor Roosevelt, and my personal favorite, Sojourner Truth. Who do you think should replace (or join) Hamilton on the new note? What do you think about Alexander Hamilton being displaced?