FROM TIME MAGAZINE
U.S. government officials say Treasury Secretary Jack Lew could release early images of redesigned $5, $10 and $20 bills in an effort to pressure the Trump Administration away from reversing their plans.
But doing so, officials fear, could give counterfeiters a running start and could ultimately hurt plans to add a woman to front of the currency.
The Treasury Department has not confirmed that there are any current plans to release early renderings of the design, but officials inside and out of the Obama Administration have said the decision is ultimately up to the Secretary. Officials say that security should be the determining factor in any such plan.
“I think the enthusiasm about the announcement and what we’ve made has left an important mark,” Lew told the Inquirer. “I think the decisions like the decision of Harriet Tubman on the $20; people have already started calling them ‘Tubmans’ and they’re not even printed yet.”
But Trump’s surprise victory over Hillary Clinton, has led many to question what was next for the project.
It is true that the enthusiasm is there. A Google image search of “Harriet Tubman 20” reveals dozens of imagined designs of the new bill, which would be last in line for a redesign. In Northeast Washington, a D.C.-based artist painted a mural of Harriet Tubman as the portrait of the $20 bill. And mention of Harriet Tubmans as the new face of the currency did permeate the rap culture lexicon as many suspected, creeping its way into the remix of the O.T. Genesis song “Cut It” featuring Kevin Gates and Young Thug.
But the next Administration could easily choose to ignore the pulse of the people. Groups like Women on 20s, which has been adamant about replacing Jackson on the currency, have already expressed concern.
“It would be a slap in the face of women to reverse the decision in our opinion.” Susan Ades Stone, the executive director of Women on 20s told MarketWatch this week. It could, however, be much harder to ignore renderings of the future bills. It is that line of thinking that insiders say has lead Treasury to consider releasing early images.
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