Women Whose Image Has Been on Money Around the World

Pocahontas, born Amonute, was the daughter of the Powhatan chief whose people lived in what is now the area around Jamestown, Virginia, and in 1907 became the first Native American honored on a U.S. postage stamp. Legend has it that she saved the life of English settler John Smith, though this has been widely disputed.

Policarpa Salavarrieta, a seamstress nicknamed La Pola, was famous for spying for the Colombian revolutionaries against the Spanish during the Spanish Reconquista of the Viceroyalty of New Granada. She was captured by the Spanish and executed for high treason.

Queen Elizabeth II reigned over Great Britain between 1952 and 2022 and is the longest-serving sovereign in British history. Her image has appeared on bank notes in 19 different nations or regions that are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. She first appeared on currency in 1935 at age 8 on the Canadian dollar.

Tamar was the queen of Georgia from 1184 to 1213. She was Georgia’s first female queen and oversaw the nation’s largest territorial expansion.

Queen Teuta led the Illyrian tribe located in what is today Albania. They were a threat to Roman trade routes in the eastern Mediterranean. Only repeated incursions by Roman legions in Illyria stopped the queen’s aggression.