“This is the first time that the signature of a female Treasury Secretary will appear on the notes and the first time that the signatures of two women will appear on our currency,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
For the first time in the history of the dollar, the notes of the US currency now bear the signatures of two women, including that of the Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellenwho symbolically signed their first “release” today in Fort Worth, Texas.
Next to Yellen’s signature is that of Marilyn Malerba, who has been the US Treasurer since September. Malerba, the chief of the Mohican tribe, is the first Amerindian to hold this office.
“This is the first time that the signature of a finance minister will appear on the banknotes, and the first time that the signatures of two women will appear on our currency,” Yellen commented, speaking at one of the two mints where the banknotes are printed. “Today, it’s not about me or the new signature on our currency. It’s about our collective work to create a stronger and more inclusive economy,” he added.
According to Helen, 62% of the ministry’s staff are women and many of them hold important positions.
“It is a historic moment,” Malerba commented for her part.
The notes, initially $1 and $5, will go into circulation early next year.
“I have to admit: I spent a lot of time practicing my signature,” Yellen joked. “Although custom calls for finance ministers to put their signatures on our nation’s paper money (…) the Founding Fathers failed to take into account a seemingly common characteristic of finance ministers: horrible handwriting,” he joked.
Tim Geithner, who was Treasury Secretary under Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, even had to change his signature to make it legible, Yellen explained. So did his successor, Jack Lew (2013-17), whom Obama said should try to make “at least one letter of his signature readable.”
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