Janet Yellen unveils first U.S. dollar bills with her signature
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Treasurer Marilynn Malerba hold notes with their signatures at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing Western Currency Facility on Thursday. Photo: Andy Jacobsohn/AFP via Getty Images
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday unveiled the first U.S. dollars bearing her signature, marking the first time a female Treasury secretary's signature appears on the nation's currency.
What's next: The updated $1 and $5 dollar bills will be delivered to the Federal Reserve later this month and enter circulation early next year, a Treasury spokesperson said.
- Yellen's signature appears alongside that of the U.S. Treasurer, Marilynn "Lynn" Malerba — the first Native American to serve in that role.
Catch up quick: Yellen was confirmed in January of last year, but dollar notes have still been printed with former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's signature throughout Yellen's tenure.
- New money (that is, with a new signature) can't be issued until the country has a treasurer. But Malerba wasn't appointed until June, and officially sworn in this fall.
The intrigue: The penmanship of each Treasury Secretary has, in recent years, attracted scrutiny. (Though for Mnuchin, it was the photos of the dollar unveiling — not his signature — that captured attention.)
What they're saying: "President Obama joked during Jack Lew’s nomination as [Treasury] Secretary that he should try to make 'at least one letter legible' in his signature. The good news is that President Biden did not make a similar request when he nominated me," Yellen said in remarks on Thursday delivered at a facility in Fort Worth, Texas, where the dollars were printed. (Lew ultimately nixed his doodle-like signature, and new bills were printed with an updated signature.)
- Yellen told late-night host Stephen Colbert last week that she "practiced and practiced" her signature.
Go deeper: Why Treasury Secretary has been practicing her signature
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Yellen is the first female U.S. Treasury secretary whose signature appears on the nation's currency, not the first woman whose signature appears on the nation's currency.
