Reagan to replace Hamilton on $10 bill?

[Almighty Colin]

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Ronald Reagan's face could soon adorn the $10 bill or half the dimes minted in the country, if fans of the late president get their way, according to a published report.

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USA Today reported Tuesday that Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., plans to sponsor legislation to have Reagan replace Alexander Hamilton, the nation's first treasury secretary, on the $10 bill. The proposal has the support of Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, which is headed by Grover Norquist, an influential conservative activist.

The paper says Democrats in Congress are not a ready to embrace the idea, though none would come out opposed to the idea in the wake of Reagan's death Saturday.

The decision about who is on currency is up to the secretary of treasury. A spokeswoman for current Treasury Secretary John Snow said any discussion of putting Reagan on the bill is "premature." But the paper quotes Norquist as saying that he has already had discussions with Snow and senior White House staff about the idea and found no opposition.

If Reagan is not put on the $10, an alternate proposal is to have half the nation's dimes carry Reagan's face, with the other half continuing to honor Franklin D. Roosevelt. The idea of removing Roosevelt from the dime altogether in favor of Reagan had enough opposition, even from Nancy Reagan, to be dropped, the paper said.

One person opposing removing Hamilton from the $10 bill is Ron Chenow, author of an acclaimed biography of the revolutionary war hero and founding father. He told USA Today that he believed Reagan would have objected to the snub of Hamilton.

"Hamilton was the prophet of the capitalist system that Ronald Reagan so admired," he said.