Treasury Unveils Lew’s Improved Signature

WASHINGTON (AP) —
This handout image provided by the Treasury Department shows the official signature of Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew that will go on the nation’s currency which was unveiled Tuesday. (AP Photo/Treasury Department)
This handout image provided by the Treasury Department shows the official signature of Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew that will go on the nation’s currency which was unveiled Tuesday. (AP Photo/Treasury Department)

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew won’t win any prizes in penmanship, but his official signature, which will go on the nation’s currency, is at least a slight improvement over the loopy scrawl he had a few months ago.

The Treasury Department unveiled the new signature on Tuesday. It takes the Bureau of Engraving and Printing about 18 weeks to put new engraving plates into production. That means Lew’s signature will not show up on the various currency denominations until sometime this fall.

Lew’s signature had been so bad that President Barack Obama joked that unless it improved it would “debase our currency.”

The new signature is still hard to read, but it does represent an improvement from previous signatures that were essentially a series of loops. Lew became Treasury secretary, succeeding Timothy Geithner, on Feb. 28.

This Treasury Department photo shows Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew signing his official signature. (AP Photo/Treasury Department)
This Treasury Department photo shows Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew signing his official signature. (AP Photo/Treasury Department)
These are the signatures of Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew from a Sept. 21, 2011 memo when he was Office of Management and Budget director, top, and as Treasury Secretary on the 2013 annual report for the Financial Stability Oversight Council, bottom. (AP Photo)
These are the signatures of Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew from a Sept. 21, 2011 memo when he was Office of Management and Budget director, top, and as Treasury Secretary on the 2013 annual report for the Financial Stability Oversight Council, bottom. (AP Photo)

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