I really dislike the deification of presidents, but I have to say, I do prefer the reverse of the Roosevelt dime over the fasces on the reverse of the "Mercury" dime.

Since it is from the History Channel, I have to take it with a grain of salt, but a historian discussing Rome said that the axe was embedded in the fasces to represent martial authority, while an unadorned bundle of rods formed t he symbol of civil authority, which makes the axe head fasces even less appealing.