Coin World’s William T. Gibbs reports that U.S. paper money will have new stories to tell about the fight for freedom and liberty. The $5, $10 and $20 notes will gain new designs honoring abolitionist Harriet Tubman and others in the fight for an end to slavery, women’s suffrage and civil rights.

Full video transcript:

Good morning. This is William T. Gibbs with Coin World’s Monday Morning Brief.

Good designs for coins and paper money often tell stories about the peoples, about the nations that issue them, and soon our paper money will have new stories to tell. On April 20,Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced sweeping new changes for some of our paper money. As anticipated he announced that a portrait of famed abolitionist Harriet Tubman will be placed on the face of the $20 bill, replacing the portrait of Andrew Jackson. President Jackson’s portrait will be moved to the back of the note. But the changes are much more sweeping than that, and the five- and 10-dollar bills will also be affected.

Now, the $5 bill will continue to show Abraham Lincoln on its face, and the Lincoln Memorial on its back. But the back will be revised to show scenes from the Civil Rights movement that took place at the Lincoln Memorial, including the famed opera performance by singer Marian Anderson and the 1963 "I Have A Dream" speech by Martin Luther King.

The $10 bill will continue to show our first Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, and the back of the note will also continue to show the Treasury building. But the back will also be revised to reflect scenes from the women’s suffrage movement, including a 1913 march by advocates for women’s suffrage that ended at the Treasury building, and another scene that will honor five leaders of that movement.

These designs will not be unveiled until 2020, and will not enter circulation until sometime after that, but they will be the most sweeping and the most radical to our currency in decades.

Tell us what you think about the announcement. We’d like to hear. This is William T. Gibbs for Coin World. Thank you. 

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