WHITMAN, WOMEN, AND THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Dennis Tucker of Whitman Publishing writes:

The U.S. Treasury recently announced that a woman will replace Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill in 2020. A woman—Martha Washington—last appeared on American paper money more than a century ago. Meanwhile, a new book, “The 100 Greatest Women on Coins” (Whitman Publishing, $29.95), showcases coins with female faces, starting with a bust of Athena on a silver tetradrachm of Athens (454-404 B.C.). The earliest coins usually represented goddesses. More recent subjects include Helen Keller, who appeared on a special Alabama state quarter. For the new $10 bill, the book’s author, Ron Guth, would choose Harriet Tubman. “She actually risked her life to help end slavery,” he says. “I like the idea of honoring a doer.”

Every city has its beloved art museums, venerable historical societies and treasured libraries. But how many towns offer multiple exhibits for folks who want to gawk at money? There’s no place like New York.

Those with more refined sensibilities may not understand, but some of us just love money, period. My favorite possession may be my giant bowl of coins. It’s far more beautiful and interesting than anything it could buy.

Happily, for the cash obsessed, there are several local spots where one can see a lot more dough than what’s in one’s wallet, starting with the Museum of American Finance, a 26-year-old institution largely funded by Wall Street firms and wealthy donors.

A trip to the museum, housed in a lovely old bank building on Wall Street, starts with a big currency exhibit—three walls plastered with cash! Dedicated to American moolah, the display even includes a beaver pelt and a 2007 ViVOpay 4500 credit card reader.

For coin buffs, there’s the American Numismatic Society on Varick Street, also in lower Manhattan. The Society maintains an internationally known collection of more than 800,000 coins and medals, and a library of 100,000-plus holdings, including the Whitman Encyclopedia of Mexican Money Volume II, copies of Money Trend dating to 1971 and the promotional brochure “Disneyland Minnie Money is here.”

The Society’s current exhibit includes a display of iron African tribal currency in the shape of, among other items, a life-size spear and a hoe. Imagine stabbing enemies and planting turnips with your money.

To read the complete articles, see:
Golden Girls: Women on Coins (www.wsj.com/articles/golden-girls-women-on-coins-1443107227)
Follow the Money—to a Museum in NYC (www.wsj.com/articles/follow-the-moneyto-a-museum-in-nyc-1443175200)

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