The $10 bill through the years
Good thing Alexander Hamilton is not around to see this. If he were, the Founding Father known for his famous duel with a vice president may have demanded another fight.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment — which gave women the right to vote — the Treasury Department will give the $10 bill a face-lift in 2020, replacing Hamilton’s portrait with that of an exemplary American woman.
Beginning this summer, the federal government will gather input from the public to help determine which historic woman will grace the $10 note. According to the Treasury, it will select a woman “recognized by the public who was a champion for democracy in the United States.” The woman, by law, must be deceased.
First issued in 1914, the $10 bill has evolved greatly over the years. But never has it depicted a woman. In fact, Martha Washington, the country’s first first lady, was the last woman to be featured on any U.S. currency — the silver-dollar certificate in the late 1800s.
Now, the $10 note is set to see one of its biggest changes in more than a century.
1914 to 1929
National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution
- Face: Andrew Jackson
- Features: Andrew Jackson, the country’s seventh president, appeared on the first $10 Federal Reserve note, according to NewMoney.gov. The note measured 7.37 inches wide and 3.12 inches tall, or more than an inch wider and a half-inch taller than today’s version. Made of linen and cotton materials, the bill included a Federal Reserve Bank seal to the left of the portrait and raised printing. The back of the bill included pictures of a plow and horses, as well as smokestacks from a factory, representing both agriculture and commerce.
1929 to 1990
National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution
- Face: Alexander Hamilton
- Features: In 1929, the note shrank to its current dimensions of 6.14 inches wide by 2.61 inches tall. The designers also switched out Andrew Jackson’s portrait for that of Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary-treasurer. An image of the U.S. Treasury building replaced the agriculture and commerce vignette on back. And in this design, the U.S. Treasury seal first appeared to the right of the portrait. Serial numbers also appeared twice on the front of the bill.
1990 to 2000
- Face: Alexander Hamilton
- Features: In 1990, the $10 bill received a security overhaul. Key additions included a vertical security thread to the left of the Federal Bank seal and microprinting along the right outer edge of the portrait’s oval, according to NewMoney.gov. The security thread was imprinted with “USA” and “TEN” in an alternating pattern, while the microprinting read “The United States of America.”
2000 to 2006
- Face: Alexander Hamilton
- Features: In this redesign, Hamilton’s portrait became noticeably larger and the security features started to get more specialized. The security thread moved to the right of the portrait and designers also included a small flag visible from the front and back of the note. The thread kept the imprinted “USA TEN,” but another new feature emerged — the thread glowed orange when held up to ultraviolet light. To the right of the portrait, designers added a faint image of Hamilton, which was visible from both sides of the bill. Color-shifting ink — shifting from green to black — was added to the numeral 10 in the lower right front of the note. And a large green “10” was added to the back of the bill.
2006 to present
- Face: Alexander Hamilton
- Features: There’s no longer an oval frame around Hamilton’s head in the current design, and the note now displays orange, yellow and red background colors. Two “symbols of freedom” — torches from the Statue of Liberty — can be found, one to the left of Hamilton’s portrait and one on the lower right side, according to NewMoney.gov. The security thread, the watermark and color-shifting ink remain as the three primary security features on the $10 note.
2020 and on?
- Face: To be determined
- Potentials: Earlier this year, a group called “Women on 20s” campaigned to put a woman on the $20 bill. The group created a list of 15 potential candidates, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman and offered an online ballot. Tubman, an abolitionist and Union spy during the Civil War, emerged as the finalist. The top contenders from that list of candidates are a good place to start for our own informal poll. Whom would you vote for? Vote on the next page. And if you want to learn more and offer your input, the Treasury has set up a website, TheNew10.treasury.gov.
