Cash contributes to education

This LGBTQ+ Pride month, the Bank of England launched a new £50 note depicting Alan Turing, mathematician, cryptographer, and father of modern computing, unjustly treated for being gay.

The new US Administration has announced efforts to speed up the design of the new $20 bill featuring abolitionist hero Harriet Tubman. The project had been paused under the Trump administration.

The Jury gives their take at selected images of CashEssential's third photo contest "SMALL BILL, BIG THRILL: A little Cash goes a Long Way" and their view on the importance of cash today.

While around the world, people are celebrating doctors and medical staff who are in the front line fighting the coronavirus pandemic, the Central Bank of Tunisia honours women in the scientific and medical fields by portraying Doctor Tahwida Ben Cheikh on a new note.

Patriarchy is alive and kicking including on banknotes. Women are featured on a minority of banknotes around the world but the situation is improving.

Finland is seeing an increase in household debt and over-indebtedness. This may be partly explained by the increasing use of digital payments, which makes budgeting more difficult. The Bank of Finland is responding with a financial literacy programme to educate its citizens.

In celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Australian Dollar, the Royal Australian Mint and Australia Post have launched a coin hunt, inviting children to collect 26 limited edition coins. The coins feature quintessentially Australian icons including didgeridoos, lamingtons and quokkas.

Research conducted by University College London revealed how children are experiencing significant difficulties in handling payments and counting change as a result of society’s pressing move towards digital.

In France, pocket money is a decreasing tendency and children are getting more conscious about the value of money.

The German Bundesbank is exposing its treasures for the first time in an exhibit at the Money Museum in Frankfurt. The exhibit looks at the evolution of monetary policy and exposes numerous artifacts of great historical value.

Jade Dalloul, a French graphic and motion designer, designed a series of banknotes as if they were printed by large corporations. The end result is an entertaining and colourful series that follows the main guidelines of banknote design.

Cash might be a symbol of national sovereignty, but it goes beyond that. It's an important tool for social inclusion, for education and is essential for places struck by a crisis.