Women on money

[Herb Hunter]

Originally Posted by El Diablo

... Selecting a woman because no woman has been on American paper currency is pretty ridiculous.

The Susan B. Anthony dollar was a flop. The Sacagawea dollar was a flop.

Maybe we should just take a hint from those and worry about things that actually matter.

It is ridiculous if one is indifferent to bigotry.

Those coins failed because they were impractical not because of who was being honored on them.

Righting a wrong matters.

[architype]

Am I correct in stating that the only men on paper money have been President with the exception of Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton? Franklin was a founding father, and a pretty industrious guy. Hamilton was also a founding father and Secretary of the Treasury. So what is the benchmark required to qualify being put on paper money?
I think if we ever have a woman President then that might qualify, but only if she is an exceptional President, but who determines that in today's nutty political environment?

Exceptional Military service might also qualify. Possibly Grace Hopper, the first woman promoted to Admiral in the Navy. I don't know if she was outstanding in her job, and not sure if just being an Admiral qualifies...lots of men Admirals out there that aren't on money.

[El Diablo]

Originally Posted by ewalling

Is it? Why? Wouldn't having the face of an accomplished woman publicly recognize that women achieve great things just as men do?

And that goes directly to my point of "It depends on who was chosen".

Only having men smacks of a lop-sided patriarchal society.

Right now, I can't think of any American woman who's done anything worthy of such an honor.

[seannx]

Originally Posted by Herb Hunter

It is my understanding that a real woman has never been depicted on paper money and to that extent, they have sustained discrimination.

Apparently it happened once...

From factmonster.com:
Has a woman's portrait ever appeared on U.S. paper money?
Martha Washington is the only woman whose portrait has appeared on a U.S. currency note. It appeared on the face of the $1 Silver Certificate of 1886 and 1891, and the back of the $1 Silver Certificate of 1896.

...a long time ago.

The same source says that no portraits of African Americans have appeared on U.S. paper money either.

I don't get the argument against it, simply because women have appeared on coins. Why does it have to be cast as dishonest? How about considering if it is fair? Was it fair that women didn't get the vote until 1920? I think that qualifies as discrimination.

[clintj]

Originally Posted by architype

Am I correct in stating that the only men on paper money have been President with the exception of Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton? Franklin was a founding father, and a pretty industrious guy. Hamilton was also a founding father and Secretary of the Treasury. So what is the benchmark required to qualify being put on paper money?
I think if we ever have a woman President then that might qualify, but only if she is an exceptional President, but who determines that in today's nutty political environment?

Exceptional Military service might also qualify. Possibly Grace Hopper, the first woman promoted to Admiral in the Navy. I don't know if she was outstanding in her job, and not sure if just being an Admiral qualifies...lots of men Admirals out there that aren't on money.

Salmon Chase, 6th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, appeared briefly on the $10,000 note (technically a gold certificate).

[El Diablo]

Originally Posted by Herb Hunter

It is ridiculous if one is indifferent to bigotry.

Putting a woman on currency for the sake of having a woman on currency is silly. Select someone worthy of it, and let's discuss it.

Otherwise, let's put a depiction of Sharon Stone from "Basic Instinct" on it and be done with it.

Those coins failed because they were impractical not because of who was being honored on them.

They failed because the government foolishly continued to print paper dollars.

Canada successfully did away with their $1.00 bills. How? They began issuing coins and stopped issuing the paper alternative.

Righting a wrong matters.

There's no "wrong" here.

What woman should be honored by this? Look at the ridiculously small number of people selected for the honor, and name me a single woman who ranks among them. I honestly cannot think of one.

[El Diablo]

Originally Posted by NormH3

I'm pretty sure they were a flop because they were coins. I also think people with vision issues had problems with them.

I guess Canadians are all blessed with 20/20 vision.

They even went nuts and came up with a $2.00 coin.

[dagobert]

Not to worry, once you join Canada there will be a woman on all your money.

[El Diablo]

I want to know why our paper currency is so boring. Other countries use vibrant colors on their paper currency. What do we have? White, black and green.

I think we're discriminating against pretty colors, and I don't think we should stand for such an outrageous injustice. What does that say about us as a society???

[NormH3]

Originally Posted by dagobert

Not to worry, once you join Canada there will be a woman on all your money.

and a living woman at that.

[perttime]

Does there have to a person's face on money?

We went for architectural styles for EURO - but then I don't see how whole Europe could have agreed on which persons to use. Even geographic features might have been too difficult.

[NormH3]

Originally Posted by El Diablo

I want to know why our paper currency is so boring. Other countries use vibrant colors on their paper currency. What do we have? White, black and green.

I think we're discriminating against pretty colors, and I don't think we should stand for such an outrageous injustice. What does that say about us as a society???

Our money also discriminates against dogs. I want dogs on our money darnit.

[dagobert]

Canadian currency has pretty colours. Makes it real easy to see how much money you have at a glance.

$1 - Cold coin
$2 - Silver coin
$5 - Blue
$10 - Purple
$20 - Green
$50 - Red
$100 - Honey brown

[El Diablo]

Originally Posted by NormH3

Our money also discriminates against dogs. I want dogs on our money darnit.

Well, give me Sharon Stone and you can have Spot!

[NormH3]

Originally Posted by El Diablo

Well, give me Sharon Stone and you can have Spot!

I'm thinking Helen Hunt