Mary Ellen Withrow walked behind a typically closed door at the Primrose Retirement Community on Thursday. With a flashlight in hand she paused at a plaque bearing hername.

The Harding Graduate had once been awarded the Guinness World Record for having her name on more paper currency than anyone else in the country's history.

"No one has beat my record since," the 87-year-old joked noting that her signature has made it onto more than 68 billion bills.

She said it is part of a collection of items that represent a portal into her life as well as American history.

It serves as a road map of a long political career that took a Marion County woman from a seat on the local school board to the U.S. Treasurer's Office.

Pictures of former presidents, foreign diplomats and political memorabilia hang on the walls of the moderately sized space next to room 105 at Primrose. Tucked behind a glasscase is a $20 bill given to John Glenn for good luck as he prepared himself for the journey into space.

"My daughters held onto some of these items for years," Withrow said. "I even forgot that I had some of them."

She usually gives tours herself walking visitors though presidential ornaments, keys to cities, special currency, commemorative coins and medals and other memorabilia from hertime in local, state and federal office.

Having retired in 2001, she said the journey that led her to the federal office wasn't an easy one.

When she secured her first victory, the newspaper at the time did not print her name, instead referring to her as Mrs. Norman Withrow.

She would later be appointed U.S. Treasurer by Bill Clinton and unanimously confirmed by the Senate.

In that role, Withrow oversaw the state quarters project, one of her proudest achievements.

She even struck the first state quarters minted.

A Delaware, a Pennsylvania and a New Jersey -the first three quarters in the series- sit in a display case inside the museum.

"I miss it," she said on Thursday. "Everyday I felt so grateful to have the job. I told myself at the time there have only been 39 people that had this beforeyou."

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