Treasury to Redesign the $10 and $20 Bill...

[Sanji Himura]

http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/16/news/economy/jack-lew-hamilton-10-bill/index.html

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is expected to announce this week that Alexander Hamilton's face will remain on the front of the $10 bill and a woman will replace Andrew Jackson on the face of the $20 bill, a senior government source told CNN on Saturday.

Lew announced last summer that he was considering redesigning the $10 bill to include the portrait of a woman. The decision to make the historic change at the expense of Hamilton drew angry rebukes from fans of the former Treasury Secretary. The pro-Hamilton movement gained steam after the smash success of the hip-hop Broadway musical about his life this year.

Those pressures led Lew to determine that Hamilton should remain on the front of the bill. Instead, a mural-style depiction of the women's suffrage movement -- including images of leaders such as Susan B. Anthony -- will be featured on the back of the bill.

A Treasury spokesman declined to comment on the pending changes. But Lew hinted that a decision could come this week.

"When we started this conversation not quite a year ago, it wasn't clear to me that millions of Americans were going to weigh in with their ideas," he told CNBC. "We're not just talking about one bill. We're talking about the $5, the $10, and the $20. We're not just talking about one picture on one bill. We're talking about using the front and the back of the bill to tell an exciting set of stories."

Along those lines, Lew also plans to announce this week that Andrew Jackson -- a less beloved former president whose face graces the front of the $20 bill -- will be removed in favor of a female representing the struggle for racial equality, according to the government source.

That decision would place a female on one of the most widely circulated bills in the world. But the historic change placing a female on the front of the $20 note won't come for more than a decade, the source said, since the process for changing the design of that note is still in the early stages.

"The soonest that a new $20 note will be issued is 2030," the source said, citing a lengthy process convened by the Advanced Counterfeit Deterrence steering committee, which includes representatives from the U.S. Secret Service, the Treasury, and the Federal Reserve.

That process isn't likely to be sped up by the Federal Reserve, which issues the currency, given the work that goes into designing secure technology to thwart counterfeiters.

"The blue security ribbon on the $100 note took over 15 years to develop," the source said. "This level of technology is why our counterfeiting remains at less than .01% of currency in circulation. We should not expedite the issuance of any currency for political purposes."

Future Treasury Secretaries -- of which there will be several -- could reverse or alter the decision regarding the $20, making Lew's announcement far less of a clear-cut victory for the movement pushing to place a woman on American currency.

The $5 bill will retain Abraham Lincoln on the front, with plans to change the back to include a mural of prominent activities that have taken place at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.

The idea of including women in a mural on the back of a bill has been called into question.

"It will take a microscope to see who those individuals are, and we'll be left with another decade or more of woefully inadequate representation of women and their worth," wrote the group Women on 20s in an open letter to Lew, published by Time.

"Nobody looks at the back of the bill, and that's not likely to change," the group wrote. "A vignette without a woman's portrait on the front of the bill (even if she must share with Hamilton) will be seen as a token gesture and an affront to Americans of all ages who are expecting you to reveal your choice of a singular woman based on their input. As a friend of ours put it, relegating women to the back of the bill is akin to sending them to the back of the bus. The Rosa Parks analogies are inevitable.

 

[Dotini]

It's pity the City of Seattle cannot print currency depicting its founding...on the basis of employing native American men in the sawmill and native American women in the whorehouses catering to the visiting sailors. The genius was not only in steam power for the mill, but in employing the natives to keep them peaceable. Henry Yesler and Doc Maynard were the genius spiders spinning in the center of the web.

 

[JKgo]

....I'm kinda curious, but how much all of this redesigning process gonna cost the American taxpayers? And can US Federal gov afford it? And if it will only see service in 2030, then can the design change somewhere along the line?

And once Jackson goes, then can we even call US banknotes Dead Presidents ever again?

 

[huskeR32]

And once Jackson goes, then can we even call US banknotes Dead Presidents ever again?

This will be far from the first non-President featured on US paper currency.

 

[Danoff]

People still use physical currency?

 

[Sanji Himura]

....I'm kinda curious, but how much all of this redesigning process gonna cost the American taxpayers? And can US Federal gov afford it? And if it will only see service in 2030, then can the design change somewhere along the line?

Yes to the last question. Any succeeding Treasury Secretary can change the design and even reverse the changes once Lew leaves his post.

 

[JKgo]

This will be far from the first non-President featured on US paper currency.

....I know - it was an attempted jokey reference to an old movie.

Yes to the last question. Any succeeding Treasury Secretary can change the design and even reverse the changes once Lew leaves his post.

Cool. What about the cost, though? Surely, it must cost many billions to change a single bill, let alone for two.

 

[Dotini]

People still use physical currency?

All the time. I use it for small transactions (under $20) and also weekly for paying my fencing instructor and masseuse.
I personally feel that cash is one hallmark of a free and healthy society.

 

[Danoff]

I personally feel that cash is one hallmark of a free and healthy society.

Why?

 

[Swagger897]

Well to start with nothing is better than the ability to not be traced by records..

 

[Dotini]

Why?

I will not attempt to convince you of the many specific merits of cash, as I merely stated my intuitive feelings about the hallmarks of a free and healthy society. However, I can at least mention the following:

Cash is money, the thing itself. It is the simplest and most direct medium of payment as it requires no device, no machine, no electricity, no 3rd party or extraneous peripherals. Cash makes me feel certainly and positively well in physically possessing it. Cash is not merely numbers on a screen, subject to uncertainties including power outage, litigation, hacking, etc. Currency in silver and gold has the additional benefit of both intrinsic and market value, not subject to fiat devaluation.

 

[Danoff]

I will not attempt to convince you of the many specific merits of cash, as I merely stated my intuitive feelings about the hallmarks of a free and healthy society. However, I can at least mention the following:

Cash is money, the thing itself. It is the simplest and most direct medium of payment as it requires no device, no machine, no electricity, no 3rd party or extraneous peripherals. Cash makes me feel certainly and positively well in physically possessing it. Cash is not merely numbers on a screen, subject to uncertainties including power outage, litigation, hacking, etc. Currency in silver and gold has the additional benefit of both intrinsic and market value, not subject to fiat devaluation.

I know you already know a lot of this but I'll say it anyway.

In a very real way, cash is no more money than your credit card or a check. It represents numbers on a screen at some point - when it comes to the value of the cash itself. I very much prefer something with intrinsic value. Gold and silver would be good, but stock is also better than cash. I'm also a fan of property. Real estate, or other assets that have inherent value.

Really, money is not the basic element. You say "cash is money, the thing itself", but really value is the thing itself. Money can be converted into value, but in the form of money it merely represents value, much like a check or credit card. My car, on the otherhand, is valuable in and of itself. My house is valuable inherently. In order for money to have value someone else has to agree.

 

[Dotini]

In order for money to have value someone else has to agree.

Fortunately, we have the USD. It underpins all the world's currencies. If it should ever fail to inspire trust and confidence, then we are in a world of hurt. In theory and perhaps even in fact, too much national debt can be a problem which could topple even the dollar. World of hurt.

 

[Northstar]

Cool. What about the cost, though? Surely, it must cost many billions to change a single bill, let alone for two.

It will cost a little more but not much as they already have to re-design the bill every so often. Than again this is the government so who knows how much they will end up spending.

Why?

Personally, I've had my card info stolen once and that's one too many in my eyes. At least if someone steals the cash that's on me that's all I lose, there is no watching your accounts constantly afterwards.

 

[Danoff]

Personally, I've had my card info stolen once and that's one too many in my eyes. At least if someone steals the cash that's on me that's all I lose, there is no watching your accounts constantly afterwards.

I've had my card stolen probably 5 or 6 times. I've never lost a dime on it. Credit card companies are very good about it. You'd be hard pressed to have that kind of security with cash. Someone steals your cash and it's gone.

 

[Com Fox]

People still use physical currency?

I love holding physical money, it actually makes me feel richer than I actually am. When I do get a Card, I'll probably won't even pay using the card and just take out the cash before paying (unless I have to pay via an online store) .


I really don't think a country like America should think about doing something so costly, especially with the issue they're having now with their own money.

 

[Frenzyhero]

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[eran0004]

....I'm kinda curious, but how much all of this redesigning process gonna cost the American taxpayers? And can US Federal gov afford it?

I guess it depends on if the machines that handle the money on the market need to be replaced. But on the other hand, if those machines are made in the US it will create jobs proportionally to the cost.

Essentially. Never good enough. Microscope my ass, you think it takes a bloody microscope to see any of the other tributes on our bills?

The problem is that there are only men front and center of the bills. Getting a small spot for women on the back isn't enough, even if you could see it without a microscope.

Stirring problems at home instead of fixing the ones already here. It's a disgrace.

This problem has been around for a hundred years. And compared to some other problems out there it's actually an easy one to fix, so why would it have to wait for every other problem to be solved first? Especially when the society is able to multi-task. It's not as if you can only work on one problem at the time.

 

[squadops]

Cash is king, even better if backed by gold. It's all I use, I dread they day when I'll no longer be able to do everything with it, sure it's a bit cumbersome but I will always prefer it over trails and mistakes. Beside you look cool plopping it down.

 

[Omnis]

I know you already know a lot of this but I'll say it anyway.

In a very real way, cash is no more money than your credit card or a check. It represents numbers on a screen at some point - when it comes to the value of the cash itself. I very much prefer something with intrinsic value. Gold and silver would be good, but stock is also better than cash. I'm also a fan of property. Real estate, or other assets that have inherent value.

Really, money is not the basic element. You say "cash is money, the thing itself", but really value is the thing itself. Money can be converted into value, but in the form of money it merely represents value, much like a check or credit card. My car, on the otherhand, is valuable in and of itself. My house is valuable inherently. In order for money to have value someone else has to agree.

I think what he means is that he values the privacy that you have with cash payments. Any time you use a card, your location and use patterns are up for analysis.

 

[Liquid]

This is why Bank of England notes have been the most progressive; they've all had a woman on the front since 1960.

 

[Northstar]

I've had my card stolen probably 5 or 6 times. I've never lost a dime on it. Credit card companies are very good about it.

There's always the chance they won't remove the charges though and than you are stuck with the charges + interest.

Anyways, I find this whole thing odd considering it sort of goes against what you have in your sig.

 

[Frenzyhero]

edit

 

[eran0004]

But that misses the entire point. It's still going to be a total redesign.

What is the point?

 

[A2K78]

Anybody notice the whole politically correct motive behind this move?

It should be also be noted that Hamilton and Jackson had differing views concerning central banking e.g. Hamilton loved central banks and no doubt would've support the Fed(and its various crimes) whereas Jackson totally hated central banks.

 

[Johnnypenso]

Canada recently underwent a currency redesign in the last few years and made the switch to polymer based bank notes. While the initial cost of the transition was high, on the order of $75-100Million, in the long run the durability of the notes and the obstacles to counterfeiting that go along with the new currency should make it a net gain for Canadians.

Source

 

[Danoff]

There's always the chance they won't remove the charges though and than you are stuck with the charges + interest.

Anyways, I find this whole thing odd considering it sort of goes against what you have in your sig.

There's no way they'd stick me with a fraudulent charge. They can't afford to lose my business (and they would). What goes against my sig?

 

[Frenzyhero]

edit

 

[Tornado]

The problem is that there are only men front and center of the bills. Getting a small spot for women on the back isn't enough, even if you could see it without a microscope.

That's, ah, probably why they are redesigning the $20 bill to have a woman on the front.

 

[eran0004]

To just draw attention to the struggles and accomplishments of women.

But how does putting a woman on the front of a bill miss that point?