The new signature on our currency

Why doesn’t Parties have a +1button? This comment deserves it.

Say, Julian, a +1 button is not a bad idea. I would use it.

Then again, it might give the lurkers too much of a voice and soon have us all on the Pavlovian quest to please the faceless plussers.

I heard a story on this on Marketplace (I think) and Lew is apparently aware of this and is looking to change his signature to something a little less slinky-like for the bill.

It’s no less readable than my own signature.
Since when are signatures supposed to be readable?

I wonder though if the trend of having a unique, if illegible, signature–his isn’t the only one–is part of the greater emphasis in the culture on “me”. It’s as if he is subconsciously saying to heck with everyone else who can’t read that this broken slinky says “Jacob Lew” because it says what “I” say it says.

Okay, handwriting analysis says it indicates secretiveness.

Is secretiveness a desirable trait in a Treasury Sectretary?

Ooh, handwriting analysts said that? What did the tarot-card experts say? Does it line up?

I can’t tell you the last time I looked at the signature of the Treasury Secretary. I know that when I was a kid, I was very puzzled by the name “Donald Regan” on the few bills I had in my possession, but only because it was oddly similar to the name of the President at the time.

I looked over the signatures of past Treasury Secretaries (which can be found here), and most of them are, if not legible, then at least reasonable variations on cursive.

But, honestly, Andrew Mellon’s (1921-32) signature was pretty loopy as well (Walter Woods’ as well, Treasurer 1929-33), though I quite like it. Seems like men wrote initials for everything except their last name in signatures back then.

Of course, we also have to remember that the Treasurer of the United States also gets to sign the bills. Having looked into their number, they are an unusual lot. For one thing, I can’t remember ever hearing of any of them, much less seeing their names. For another thing, they’ve all been women since 1949. And six of the last ten have also been Hispanic. So that’s something. But seriously, did you know the (middle) name “Gumataotao” appeared on notes being printed right now? I didn’t.

Anyhow, for my money (ha!), the best signature to grace our money (at least visible on that page I linked to) was Kathryn O’Hay Granahan’s, Treasurer from 1963-6. Rosario Marin (Treasurer, 2001-3) had some style, as well.

Nah, William Julian or William Simon. Those are classics.

Why do people have poor signatures? Mine is fairly readable, but it is not as good as the rest of my handwriting. It sounds like others here are similar. Is there some reason it has turned out this way?

I don’t care how anyone signs their signature on the currency, as long as my money holds its value.

Below a LINK to those signatures of the Presidents of the United States:

http://presidentsunitedstates.com/

Clinton and Obama certainly have odd signatures, in my opinion.

I don’t particularly. But there is a difference between readable and not readable. That’s all. So even people with generally readable handwriting may (often?) have unreadable signatures, but why?

The paper US dollar is already among the world’s very ugliest currencies. The signature is not going to affect it much one way or the other.