Collector’s Guide · United States · August 2026

A President’s Signature on the Dollar: What the 2026 Currency Change Means for Collectors

For more than a century, two signatures have anchored every US note. In 2026, for the first time, a sitting president’s is being added. Whatever you think of the politics, the numismatics are simple: signature changes are how US currency collecting keeps score, and this is the biggest one in living memory.

Whose signatures normally appear on US currency?

Since the modern small-size notes of 1928, every Federal Reserve Note has carried two signatures: the Treasurer of the United States and the Secretary of the Treasury. Earlier large-size notes used other Treasury officials, but the two-signature convention is one of the most stable design elements in American money — stable enough that when a signature changes, the catalog changes with it. No sitting president has ever signed circulating US currency. That is what makes the March 2026 announcement a genuine first, whatever one’s view of it.

Why do signature changes matter to collectors?

Because signatures are how US paper money is cataloged. A Friedberg number — the reference system every US currency collector uses — is defined in large part by the signature combination on the note. When a new Treasury Secretary or Treasurer takes office, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing updates the plates, the series year or letter changes, and a new collectible variety is born. Some signature pairs were printed for years and are common; others existed for only months and became the keys to their series.

Collectors do not collect politics. They collect varieties — and a third signature on the face of the $100 is the largest variety event on US currency in decades.

The 2026 change goes further than the usual rotation, because it adds a signature rather than swapping one. That gives the change two collectible edges at once: the first notes printed with the new three-signature layout, and the final print runs of the outgoing two-signature format — the format every American alive today grew up with.

What exactly is changing in 2026?

The Treasury has not yet published full design specifics such as final placement or which further denominations follow the $100, and we will not guess at what has not been announced. The clean facts for collectors are the ones above.

How have collectors treated moments like this before?

Series changeovers reliably create hunting seasons. When a series ends, collectors work through circulation looking for the last-printed blocks and star notes of the outgoing combination; when one begins, attention goes to low serial numbers, first-run blocks from specific Federal Reserve districts, and early star replacements. Documented sale results from past changeovers show the same pattern each time: the notes everyone could have saved, but few actually did in top condition, become the ones the next generation of collectors chases. Crisp uncirculated examples and graded 67-68 EPQ/PPQ notes are what survive that filter.

None of that is a promise about what any note will be worth — we do not make those, ever. It is simply how signature-change collecting has always worked, from the 1928 experimental series to the modern era.

Frequently asked questions

Has a US president’s signature ever appeared on circulating currency before?

No. Circulating US notes have carried the signatures of Treasury officials — on modern notes, the Treasurer of the United States and the Secretary of the Treasury. The 2026 change is the first addition of a sitting president’s signature.

When do the new notes reach circulation?

Printing of the new $100s was reported to begin in June 2026, with notes printed through mid-2027. Circulation timing follows printing by months, as new notes move through Federal Reserve distribution.

Will my current bills stop being valid?

No. All US currency ever issued remains legal tender. Nothing about the 2026 change affects the money in your wallet.

What should I be saving right now?

The outgoing format. Crisp, uncirculated examples of current two-signature notes — especially star notes and interesting serial numbers — are the "last of the old" side of this changeover, and they are still available at face value in circulation today.

Is this a political statement by collectors?

No. Collectors catalog what the Treasury prints. Signature varieties have been collected through every administration of both parties for a century; this changeover is being treated the same way.

Sources

• US Department of the Treasury, press release SB0425, March 26, 2026
• Spectrum News and wire reporting on the announcement, March 2026
• Friedberg, Paper Money of the United States (signature-combination cataloging)
• Bureau of Engraving and Printing, series and signature conventions