The Slatest

It’s Official: A Woman Will Be on the New $10 Bill

Move over Alexander Hamilton.

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

There have been rumblings for months that the American greenback could be getting a makeover and the Internet, the creator of pre-truths, buzzed with speculation that a woman might be on the American currency for the first time in a century. But who would be getting the ax? The Internet seemed convinced Andrew Jackson, whose legacy isn’t exactly pristine, was sure to cede the $20 in the name of progress. That meant Washington ($1), Lincoln ($5), Alexander Hamilton ($10), Ulysses S. Grant ($50), and Benjamin Franklin ($100) all appeared safe. Not so fast.

On Wednesday Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced a woman will be featured, but she will be joining Alexander Hamilton on the new $10 note. “We have only made changes to the faces on our currency a few times since bills were first put into circulation, and I’m proud that the new 10 will be the first bill in more than a century to feature the portrait of a woman,” Lew said.

Lew, as head of the Treasury, is charged with making the official selection, but he’s enlisting input from the public on who should accompany Hamilton, most notably through variations of the hashtag #TheNew10. Lew will unveil his choice by the end of the year and the new note will go into circulation in 2020, the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote.

Also in Slate: No one is happier about Hamilton’s company on the $10 bill than the guy who plays him on Broadway.