YOU DECIDE: A Woman on the $10?

On June 17, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced that a woman would be featured on a reissue of the ten-dollar bill. The response to the news has created a triggered a passionate national debate. We want to know what you think. To clarify, the question is not whether a woman belongs on currency in general, but whether a woman belongs specifically on the reissue of the ten-dollar bill.

No

• A campaign called Women On 20s raised considerable awareness of the need for a woman to be represented on paper currency. Gathering the support of more than half-a-million people in only ten weeks, the government’s decision to choose the ten-dollar bill is dismissive of the voice of the people.
• One of the reasons the twenty-dollar bill was specifically selected by Women on 20s was to replace Andrew Jackson. Despite being a Founding Father, he was a vocal opponent of a national banking system.
• The Treasury Department’s plan is not to remove bills with Alexander Hamilton from circulation. Instead, the new currency featuring a woman will be produced in tandem with the existing bills. The fact that no other currency exists with a portrait image sends a message that women are incapable of recognition without the partnership of a man.
• Women have already been honored on currency. The first was Martha Washington on the $1 silver bank note (commonly used in its day, the late 1800s). In modern times, feminist Susan B. Anthony and Native American expeditionary Sacagawea were featured on one-dollar coins.

Yes

• The plan for an update to the ten-dollar bill began in 2013. This means that the choice of currency had already been chosen by the time the Women on 20s gained momentum. The compromise is not about diminishing the impact of women by putting them on a lesser denomination.
• Honoring the contributions of exceptional people is not the only reason for a reissue of currency. Combating counterfeiting and other security threats is the primary reason for continual redesign. Enhanced accessibility is another. The new ten-dollar bill will have tactile features for the visually impaired.
• While the Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea dollar coins were not popular, there is little evidence to suggest that it was because both featured women. (Mostly, they were similar in size to the quarter and caused confusion.) Those coins paved the way for currency for the current push for the current effort.
• Historically, the decision of whom and what goes on our currency was solely that of the Secretary of the Treasury (with the advice and input of the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). The fact that the department is open to engaging with the public through town halls, roundtables and online communities should be seen as progress.

The U.S. Treasury plans to unveil the finalized design in 2020, the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, legalizing women’s right to vote.