Back in 2016, President Obama’s Treasury Department decided it was time to replace Andrew Jackson. Secretary Jack Lew made the decision to replace Jackson and said it was time for a woman’s face to grace some of our currency. At the time, the internet was elated with the change.
At first, Secretary Lew was considering replacing Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill with Susan B. Anthony. Being undecided, he let the people decide. As a result, civil rights activist and former slave Harriet Tubman quickly became the choice everyone wanted. No one knows exactly why Lew gave up on the $10 and decided on changing the $20, but the musical “Hamilton” which was debuting at the time.
Is the Trump Administration Changing Plans?
Of course, all of that was decided back in 2016, before the entrance of a new president and a new treasury secretary. While plans were looking good for Tubman to be the new face of the $20, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is saying that might be delayed until later in the next decade. 2020 is an unrealistic timeline for the new bills to be released.
“The primary reason we’ve looked at redesigning the currency is for counterfeiting issues,” Mnuchin said when asked by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., whether the new currency would be ready on time. “Based upon this, the $20 bill will now not come out until 2028. The $10 bill and the $50 bill will come out with new features beforehand.
“The ultimate decision on the redesign will most likely be another secretary’s down the road.”
It’s not the security feature they’re worried about. That feature has already been created. Instead, they’re not ready to release the Tubman design. It likely won’t be made standard until 2026 and printed until 2028. It’s leaving others asking a lot of questions about why this is being pushed off when it’s been in the works several years.
More Women on Currency
At the time, President Obama thought the change was perfect. The country has been looking at women’s status in the country as of late. Civil rights are also something still being fought for. Putting a former slave on the $20 bill appears to be a good move for everyone all around, unless you’re an Andrew Jackson fan.
In that case, you still have no reason to be concerned. They still expect to keep Jackson on the $20 in some fashion.
“We actually listened to people. And there was a legitimate concern about what bill a woman goes on the front of, and what story we had to tell,” Lew said. In April 2016, he announced that Tubman would be replacing Jackson on the $20 and that Jackson would be moved into a scene of the White House on the reverse side.
When asked whether the next Treasury secretary would avoid making the change, he replied, “I don’t think someone is going to want to do that,” he said, citing a backlash that might occur. The change was such a popular move, but it appears as if the redesign is indeed getting pushed.
