Rumors of a one-dollar coin bearing the image of U.S. President Donald Trump surfaced last week and the U.S Treasury confirmed them.
Should Trump Be on a Dollar Coin? The US Treasury Is Considering It
Donald Trump became the first president to launch a memecoin last year, and now the U.S. Treasury has confirmed that he may get his own one-dollar coin minted to commemorate the country’s 250th birthday in 2026.
What first appeared to be online gossip turned out to be verified fact when the U.S. Treasury confirmed that online posts claiming the department is considering minting a one-dollar coin bearing Trump’s face are in fact true.
“No fake news here. These first drafts honoring America’s 250th Birthday and @POTUS are real,” said U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach. “Looking forward to sharing more soon, once the obstructionist shutdown of the United States government is over,” he added, referring to the current government shutdown now on its sixth day.
But there’s a problem; current legislation prohibits minting coins bearing images of living people, including presidents. According to Section 6 of the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, “No head and shoulders portrait or bust of any person, living or dead, and no portrait of a living person may be included in the design on the reverse of specified coins.”
It’s unclear how the Trump administration will get around the prohibition. The coin design currently being circulated shows a bust of the president on one side and on the flipside, an image of Trump pumping his right fist with the words “fight, fight, fight” inscribed along the top half. The image celebrates how the president survived an attempt on his life last summer.
(Calvin Coolidge alongside George Washington on the 1926 half-dollar, minted to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence / money.org)
Calvin Coolidge was the only living president to be featured on a U.S. coin. He earned that distinction in 1926 when a million half-dollars were minted bearing busts of both Coolidge and George Washington to celebrate the country’s 150th anniversary or sesquicentennial. The coins weren’t exactly a big hit however, and 859,408 of them were returned to the Philadelphia Mint and melted.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked on Friday about how the president felt regarding the prospects of having his face on a coin next year. “I’m not sure if he’s seen it, but I’m sure he’ll love it,” Leavitt said.
