Alexander Hamilton Photo: frankieleon

In 1861, the United States Treasury introduced the new $10 bill and  the mug of Alexander Hamilton, the country’s first Secretary of Treasury, was placed on the currency. 155 years later, as some have fought to see a woman replace Hamilton on the money, it looks like the newfound interest in Hamilton surrounding a Broadway play about his life may have stifled that campaign.

The original idea for placing a woman on the front came back in 2014, when a a 9-year-old girl from Massachusetts named Sofia wrote a letter to President Obama asking him to consider putting a woman on the front of a piece of American currency.

Two years later, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has “dropped hints” that Hamilton could stay on the front, with a woman being placed on the back.

“I think that putting a woman on the back of the bill would make women seem less important,” Sofia told TIME Tuesday. “You don’t pay a lot of attention to the back of the bill.”

According to Secretary Lew, he doesn’t want to focus on the “one square inch of space” on the front of a bill. Instead, the treasury could look into how the backs of the bills are designed. When asked for his input on the situation, President Obama and the White House stated the process for deciding on the design of the bill is up to the treasury.

The timing of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway smash Hamilton is certainly coincidental to this discussion but with interest in the titular character as high as it’s been in the last century, it sure does sound like there’s no plan to change the $10 bill. If anything, a new design may be even more Hamilton-y.

The guy’s young, scrappy, and hungry. And you’re not taking away his shot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vHMSq7K2ds

[TIME] [VICE]

About David Lauterbach

David is a writer for The Comeback. He enjoyed two Men's Basketball Final Four trips for Syracuse before graduating in 2016. If The Office or Game of Thrones is on TV, David will be watching.