With Bank Notes Changing, How Many Woman Feature On Bank Notes In The World?

King Charles will feature on new currency from the end of this year; but with the queen gone, how many other woman feature on worldwide currency?

With currency set to have an image overhaul in the coming months, the depiction of our long-reigning female monarch Queen Elizabeth II will be replaced. Interested in the gender representation on currency, Money lender, Moneyboat, analysed over 3,000 banknotes and coins — in and out of circulation — to discover the disparity between named male and female figures depicted globally and further visualised what notes would look like if women were given the spotlight.

How are women represented globally?

1,481 named people have had their faces printed on currency, of which over 89% are men, and just under 11% are women — equating to 1,320 men and just 161 women worldwide.

Of the countries that depict people on their notes and coins, over 80 of them do not represent women at all.

Looking at the top countries ranked by GDP (2022), Canada came out on top with representation standing at 33.3% for women, followed by the Netherlands (28.5%) and Australia in third (22.5%).

Representation of women in the UK The UK has depicted just seven named women on its currency — at 16.6%, a difference of just 5.8% from the global average. Whereas across the pond, America is 4.6% lower at 12%.

The most recognisable figure on our currency is the late Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning sovereign of the United Kingdom; currently portrayed on all notes and coins within the UK and has been since 1953. Another notable woman and relatively recent addition to the £10 banknote was 18th Century novelist Jane Austen. These notes are still in circulation. What would currency look like with accomplished British women? Looking at influential women in the UK, many have shown what is possible to achieve in their respective fields, overcoming diversity and continuing to blaze a trail for future women to follow in their footsteps. However, just two have been highlighted for these reimagined banknotes. This is how British currency would look if more women were featured:

With 195 countries worldwide, only 10 represent men and women equally or in women’s favour on their country’s currency, seen and handled by the public daily. Although a few countries have chosen to highlight some of their most influential women, the gender representation gap is still quite sizable. Methodology:

1. Moneyboat analysed over 3,000 banknotes and coins in circulation from the 16th century to the present to evaluate the gender gap between prominent men and women on legal tender.
   

2. Firstly, a dataset of individuals on legal tender along with the country, circulation period and denomination were collected from Wikipedia pages for banknotes in circulation, banknotes no longer in circulation and coins in and out of circulation. The resulting dataset consisted of a sample of over 3000 banknotes and coins with 1490 unique individuals.
   

3. A cross-verified database of notable figures was subsequently used to map individuals in our dataset to a gender using both name and age to determine a match. Individuals not matching the notable figures dataset were assigned genders manually.
   

4. Legal tender produced by countries that no longer exist is, where appropriate, attributed to current institutions that most accurately represent them. Therefore, the currency produced by colonies is attributed to the colonial country.
   

5. The sample was then aggregated to calculate the percentage of men vs women on legal tender by tender type, country, and decade.

Article and information courtesy of Moneyboat.co.uk - A money lending company, whom the Penny Pincher has no ties. Always check you can afford repayments and shop around before taking out a loan.