Republicans have long pushed the idea of putting Ronald Reagan on a US coin. The dime was suggested but that went nowhere because it would have meant replacing FDR and the March of Dimes theme that inspired it.
But now they are getting their wish -- albeit with a coin that will hardly ever be seen in circulation. Reagan will soon be on a dollar coin.
This is happening because the US Mint is nearing the end of its program to issue dollar coins with the portraits of America's presidents.
The Mint has been issuing them at a rate of four per year, starting with George Washington. They have made it all the way to Harry Truman this year.
The original plan was to stop after Gerald Ford because the Mint has a policy of not issuing coins that honor people who are still alive. And since Jimmy Carter is still alive, that was made the cutoff point.
But now the Mint has reversed course. It plans to skip over Carter and issue a dollar coin to honor Ronald Reagan in 2016.
That presents something of a problem because the presidential dollar series also includes a parallel series of gold and bronze medals (which are not circulating coins) that honor the wives of each of the presidents.
The problem is that Nancy Reagan is, of course, still alive. But the Mint plans to issue a Nancy Reagan medal anyway.
The First Lady medals have included a portrait on one side and a depiction of what the First Lady was known for during her tenure on the other side.
With rare exceptions in which a president had no wife while in office, the First Spouse coins have so far portrayed the coin's subject on the obverse, and then dedicated the reverse to an image symbolizing the spouse's legacy as first lady. For those exceptions, the First Spouse coins have exhibited a Liberty from coinage used during the president's time in office on the obverse and a design reflecting the president's accomplishments on the reverse.
Just like her husband, Nancy Reagan was a star of the screen in the 1940s and 1950s before becoming a political heavyweight. She became the first lady of California in 1967 and the first lady of the United States in 1981.
Nancy Reagan's major initiative as first lady was the "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign.
Yep. There could well be a "Just Say No" coin.
When Congress authorized the presidential coin series, it stipulated that a president has to be dead at least two years to be honored with a coin, but there was no such stipulation for the First Lady coins.
And there is also one instance where an exception was made to the general policy of no living person on a coin.
Twenty years ago the Mint issued a commemorative coin to honor the Special Olympics that included a portrait of Eunice Shriver, who founded the games and was alive when the coin was issued.
And the Mint also issues bronze medals for each term of each presidency -- so there are two separate medals available, for instance, commemorating George W. Bush's two forgettable terms.
Seems to me that if the plans are going to be changed at this late date, then every president -- living as well as dead -- should be included in the series, with the exception of any president still in office.
That would mean that Barack Obama would end the series in late 2017, almost a year after he will have left office.
Of course, that would require Congress to change the law -- and we all know that would never happen.