Good News for Numismatists—at Last!

All paper currency is set to change in design by 2034.

Tubman $20 bill and Jackson $20 bill
The development of the bill began during the Obama-Biden Administration.

Those who study currency and coins will be glad to know the Harriet Tubman bill is still on track.

During February, many people  voiced concerns that the planned Harriet Tubman twenty-dollar bill was no longer going to replace the current version featuring Andrew Jackson. Questions were raised as to why the Biden Administration was not moving forward, and whether the Trump Administration had interfered.

No Political Shenanigans

Fortunately, neither concern was justified; a recent report by TheGrio affirms that the new bill, celebrating one of the nation’s most important Black civil rights activists and pioneering women, is still on track to replace the current $20.

The development of the new $20—which is the most commonly used currency in the United States, given its ubiquity at ATMs—was begun during the Obama-Biden Administration, following a long, in-depth plan to make currency more inclusive. The study incorporated the public’s votes on who should be the next face of the bill.

For more than two centuries, only white men appeared on paper currency, so it was with a sigh of relief and cheers of joy that an African American woman would finally replace Jackson, more than a century since he replaced Grover Cleveland as the face of the denomination in 1928—100 years after Jackson’s election and in the midst of the Jim Crow era.

Another Seven Years to Wait

Sadly, however, it will be 2030 before the change is made, according to Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellin, and that schedule is the one that has been in place since 2013. The reason for the slow pace of the change is obscure: first, according to the Grio report, is the Advanced Counterfeit Deterrence (ACD) which provides “oversight and guidance on security features and design of Federal Reserve notes and ensures that the integrity of and confidence in US currency is maintained.”

Secondly, because the average lifespan of a $20 bill is seven years, the rollout and replacement will take a long time. And finally, currency, which is printed by the US Bureau of Engraving, must not only go through the ACD process but also has to be introduced to merchants, banks, and the public. Paper currency-reading devices—think of a snack machine that takes $1 or $5 bills only—must incorporate both the new image and any new counterfeit-proofing technology. Various other procedures must also be followed.

Maya Angelou Quarter Already Available

Meanwhile, the Maya Angelou quarter began to circulate in January 22. Why so quick with the Angelou coin and so slow with the Tubman paper?

Coins are produced by the US Mint, and the process for changing them is far simpler than with paper currency. The content (metal mixture), weight, structure, and stamping process remains unchanged; only the image of the mold is new.

All paper currency is set to change in design by 2034, but each has a different projected release year, two years apart—a new $10 bill will be introduced in 2026; a new $5 in 2028; the new $20 in 2030; and the $50 and $100 respectively in 2032 and 2034. So the public’s patience will at last be rewarded with new, more inclusive American dollars of almost every denomination.