9-Year-Old’s Letter to Obama About Putting a Woman on U.S. Currency — and His Response

[Mosby]

The little girl who asked Obama last year why there aren’t any women on U.S. bills has finally gotten a letter back from the President — and she’s invited to the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.

President Obama made waves last year when he mentioned he had received a letter from a little girl asking him to put some women on U.S. currency, which he called a “pretty good idea.” That letter was from Sofia, a Massachusetts girl who was just finishing third grade at the time.

“I was studying Ann Hutchinson, who stood up for women’s rights,” she says. “Almost everyone who chose a boy, on their poster they had pictures of different dollar bills or coins with their person on it. So I noticed, why don’t women have coins or dollar bills with their faces on it?”

http://time.com/3765227/woman-us-currency-obama-letter/

[F4lconF16]

1. We really should.

It's pretty telling that we don't.

[sdfernando]

3. Well, there was the Susan B. Anthony $1 coin

I actually have 20 or 30 dollars worth of those. But 1 no longer in minted certainly is not enough!

[Mosby]

5. the first spouse program

http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/firstSpouse/

And the Sacagawea golden dollar is still being produced.

It would be nice to see a woman on currency or a primary coin though.

[sdfernando]

6. That's great but

These are collectibles not general circulation coins. It would be great to have a woman on a general circulation bill.

[Warren DeMontague]

7. I think both the Susan B Anthony and Sacajawea dollar coins are/were intended as general circulation

I got a bunch of Sacajawea dollars as change a few weeks ago.

The problem isnt the intent, ie circulation v. Collectible, it's that Americans still arent by and large into the idea of dollar coins as opposed to singles as bills.

And the faces on the bills- washington, lincoln, hamilton, jackson, grant etc. are pretty well established. Bumping one of them would be a tougher sell, politically.

[mopinko]

8. they are used extensively in vending machines.

[PoliticAverse]

2. The person responsible for the portraits is the Secretary of the Treasury (currently Jack Lew).

Someone asked him about the issue: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/20/jack-lew-doesnt-see-woman-on-20_n_6911810.html

[sheshe2]

4. I like her list of suggestions~

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Thanks Mosby.