March 19, 2026
Sooo – it looks like we’re getting an official Trump coin minted by the United States government to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States. You wanna see it?
Here it is – you can see President Trump in the oval office, fists on the resolute desk with the word Liberty and the years 1776 and 2026 on the heads side. This image was based on this image of Trump which currently is hanging in the national portrait gallery.
The tails side has an eagle.
Oh – and this coin is supposed to be 24 carat gold…at least that’s what they’re proposing right now. So this gold $1 commemorative coin is on top of…
This additional $1 commemorative 250th birthday coin that also features Trump’s profile. Which is also scheduled to be minted. I’ve been reporting that this one was coming.
So back to the gold coin. Today — the US Commission of Fine Arts voted to move forward with this gold commemorative coin to celebrate the US semi-quincentennial. The same board voted yes on the other commemorative Trump coin in January saying that it was a “statesman-like and accurate depiction of the president.” It’s worth noting that every single member of the board that voted yes today and voted yes in January was appointed by Donald Trump. And during today’s meeting the question wasn’t whether they were going to approve the gold coin or not – the question was — how big should the gold coin be? For the record – they reportedly said the bigger the better.
Now aside from the legality of putting a living president’s face on US currency – which I’m going to get into in a second – when it comes to commemorative coins — any new proposed coin first has to be authorized by congress then the design technically has to be approved not only by the US Commission of Fine Arts but also the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee and in the end the Treasury secretary gets the final say. Well as of today – we know the Treasury secretary Scott Bessent has signed off on these Trump coins and as I just reported – today — we know the Fine Arts Commission also signed off. But the Coinage Advisory committee which is made up of citizens and coin experts appointed by Democrats and Republicans has not. In fact they have refused to even discuss these Trump commemorative coins because of the legality and tradition of not putting the image of a living president on US currency.
So can the United States Mint put Trump’s face on legal US currency? Well – it looks like they are going to do it but the law from 1866 is pretty clear. Its says only deceased individuals can appear on any minted coins by the United States government if they are used as currency. In fact a law clarifying that in 2005 said – in order to be featured specifically on a presidential dollar coin, a president must have been deceased for a minimum of two years before their coin can be struck by the u-s mint. And if there was any question – the founding fathers of the United States considered it unpatriotic to put the likeness of any living person on any u-s currency.
So – what’s the loop hole here? Well — back in 2020 congress passed a law called –the circulating collectible coin redesign act. In that law – it says in honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States, the treasury department will issue – up to five newly designed coins. The law talks about multiple special designs for the quarter – but the law also says – the Treasury may also mint a “one dollar coin with designs emblematic of the us semi quincentennial.” The Trump Treasury department has said that in their opinion what could be more emblematic of the 250th birthday of the United States than the face of President Donald J. Trump.
The Treasury department hasn’t said exactly when these Trump coins would be minted and put into circulation. But it’s also possible they may be sued if they try it.
See the gold coin rendering here.
See the other Trump coin rendering here.
See the agenda and approval from the US Commission of Fine Arts here.
