First currency featuring female Treasury secretary’s signature released

The first U.S. currency featuring the signature of a female Treasury secretary has been released. 

The Treasury Department said in a tweet on Thursday that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing has started producing dollars with the signatures of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Treasurer Lynn Malerba. 

Yellen, previously the first female chair of the Federal Reserve, was confirmed as secretary in the first few days of President Biden’s administration, becoming the first woman to lead the Treasury Department, which had been one of the last Cabinet-level positions never held by a woman. 

“Currency is something we use and we touch every day. And when done right, it can tell us who we are, what we value and what is possible,” Yellen said in remarks announcing the currency at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing facility in Fort Worth, Texas. 

Malerba has served as treasurer since September, part of an unbroken line of women who have held the position dating back to the Truman administration. She is the first Native American to hold the role. 

Currency previously carried the signature of former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, as a new treasurer needed to be in place before the currency could be updated. The position of treasurer was vacant between when Biden became president and Malerba was appointed. 

The New York Times reported that the first $1 and $5 bills with Yellen and Malerba’s signatures will go into circulation next month.