The U.S. Mint will begin producing $1 gold-colored coins with President Donald Trump’s face on the, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant said Wednesday. Image courtesy of the U.S. Treasury Department
July 15 (UPI) — The U.S Mint will begin producing $1 gold-colored coins featuring President Donald Trump‘s face, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant announced Wednesday.
The coins are meant to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary. They will have Trump’s face and “In God We Trust” on one side, with “Liberty” and “1776-2026” on the border. The reverse side features the presidential seal with “250” on a shield.
Bessent said on social media that the coin honors “the enduring legacy of liberty and a lasting symbol of patriotism.”
“Featuring President Trump, it celebrates the strength of American values, and the promise of a nation dedicated to preserving freedom for all,” he said.
Federal laws generally prevent the image of a living president from appearing on currency. U.S. code says that “[o]nly the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency and securities.”
In addition, a 1866 law prohibits living people on paper currency, Politico reported. The 2007 Presidential Coin program included the rule that no living president or those who’d died in the past two years could be featured.
U.S. Congress passed a law in 2020 that gave the Treasury Department the power to mint 2026 coins with designs “emblematic of the U.S. semiquincentennial.” That law says that no person living or dead can be on the reverse side of thecoin.
Bessant has said the design is legal, The Washington Post reported. Megan Sullivan, acting chief of the U.S. Mint office of design management, said in January that “the legal research has been done both at the Mint and up into Treasury, and they have determined that [the proposed coin design] does not violate any laws.”
This is not the first design for the coin. An earlier proposal showed Trump standing with a clenched fist in front of an American flag with the words, “Fight Fight Fight” above him.
The Treasury said there is no actual gold in the coin, which will be available for purchase in the fall.
This is not Trump’s first attempt to have his image on currency. There have been proposals for a $250 bill and 24-karat gold coins featuring the president, and his signature has been added to $100 bills.
