The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 35, September 3, 2007, Article 17

WRITER CALLS FOR NEW FACES ON U.S. PAPER MONEY

Wallace Baine of the Santa Cruz Sentinel published an article
August 31st calling for new faces on U.S. paper money.  It reads
like more of a fluff piece than a real editorial, but we could
see more calls for change like this in the future.  Many other
countries have far more variety in the personalities honored on
their banknotes, and Baine correctly points out that the U.S. Mint
has paved the way for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing via
the great variety of subjects honored in the State Quarter and
commemorative coin programs.

"There are roughly 5 billion handsomely engraved pictures of
former president Andrew Jackson floating around the U.S. today,
most of those exchanged from one person to another for goods
and services. Reach into your pocket, wallet or purse right now
and there's a good chance you have a portrait — or two or more
— of Old Hickory, as Jackson was known in his day.

"We're talking, of course, about the $20 bill, the second most
circulated paper currency in America behind only George
Washington's picture on the $1 bill. The twenty owes much of
its popularity to the ATM, of which it is the favorite
denomination. And since the ATM is how most of us procure
cash these days, the twenty reigns supreme.

"But only the slightest minority of Americans have even
the foggiest idea of who Andrew Jackson was. Which raises
this obvious but never-addressed question: Why exactly is
he on our money?

"I'm not making the argument that Jackson doesn't belong
on the twenty ... I'm saying that it's about time to give
someone else that privileged position. It's time to put a
little rotation in the faces on our currency."

[Baine suggests James Madison, Thomas Edison, Jackie Robinson,
Mark Twain, Thomas Paine and Albert Einstein.  His "Sexy
pick with no chance of being seriously considered: Walt Whitman".
His other "sexy picks" are Eleanor Roosevelt, Paul Robeson, P.T.
Barnum, Bob Dylan, Hank Williams and Rachel Carson. -Editor]

To read the complete article, see:
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  Wayne Homren, Editor

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