Hip-hop saved Hamilton.
According to a CBS News report, the Treasury Department will announce this week that it will redesign the $20 bill to include a famous woman’s face, not the $10 bill as initially planned.
Citing “people familiar with the process,” CBS reported Monday evening that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will announce that his predecessor Alexander Hamilton will stay on the $10 bill, but “a scene of women throughout history will be added to the back.”
Mr. Lew also is expected to announce which woman will now have the place on the $20 bill currently held by former president Andrew Jackson, though CBS did not report which woman it would be.
According to CBS, the “smashing success of ’Hamilton’ brought newfound fans of the founding father rallying around the first treasury secretary-turned-pop icon,” causing Treasury to change plans first announced last June.
The decision had been tipped in various ways last month — “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda met with Mr. Lew last month and tweeted that the Treasury secretary had told him “you’re going to be very happy.”
“Alexander Hamilton is one of my heroes. He’s not leaving our money,” Mr. Lew said in a March interview with Charlie Rose.
Regardless of whether the $10 or $20 bill is redesigned — or which woman will go on the Twenty — the new bills won’t be in circulation for several years because of the intricacies and security features of modern currency, CBS reported.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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