On the Money

We look at the portraits on our money— the little history lessons we carry around in our pockets. But with such a limited array of people featured, what do our banknotes say about us? First up, curator Ellen Feingold takes us on a tour of our money’s vibrant early designs, including images of children, beloved pets, and George Washington in a toga. Then former Treasurer Rosie Rios tells us how she discovered that women have been missing from our bills for more than a century, and how she campaigned to get Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill.

See the images we discuss:

Sanford Bank (Maine), $2 note

Benjamin Franklin, by Joseph Siffred Duplessis

Martha Washington, copy after Gilbert Stuart

Martha Washington, $1 silver certificate

George Washington wearing a toga, National Bank (New York), $3 note

George Washington, Lansdowne Portrait

“History Instructing Youth,” $1 silver certificate

Indépendence des États-Unis, copy after Jean Duplessi-Bertaux