Noteworthy WOMEN

When it comes to money, it is a man's world. Or so it seems, judging from the faces of the great and the good who adorn the vast majority of countries' bills and coins. Yet some countries do use their currency to honor the contributions of their female leaders, artists, and other trailblazers -- past and present. The US is a latecomer to the club, announcing in June 2015 that it would feature a woman on a banknote for the first time in over a century. The last American woman on a dollar note was Martha Washington, the first First Lady, in the 19th century. And indeed, even today, women often find a place on a banknote or a coin by virtue of birth or marriage. It is striking how many banknotes pay tribute to pioneering women who had to break in to political, artistic, and scientific circles from the outside. Leading suffragettes are currently honored on the dollar bills of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.