The Treasury Department is developing a one-dollar commemorative coin in celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday bearing the image of President Trump.
According to draft images of the coin posted on social media by the U.S. treasurer, Brandon Beach, the “heads” side would have Mr. Trump’s profile and the “tails” side an image of him standing before the American flag and pumping his fist under the words “Fight, Fight, Fight.” The coin would be legal tender and go into circulation in 2026.
The Treasury is authorized to mint the coins for a year, according to the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020. The coins must have “designs emblematic of the U.S. semiquincentennial,” the legislation says.
It is not clear that Mr. Trump’s image can be featured on a coin. An 1866 law enshrined a tradition that only deceased people could appear on U.S. currency to avoid the appearance that America was a monarchy.
An explanation of the legislation on an archived page from the Treasury’s website noted that the act “was caused by an uproar over the actions of the chief of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Spencer Clark,” who had “placed himself on a five-cent note and had a large quantity of them printed before it was noticed.”
That webpage has been removed from the Treasury’s website.
A Treasury spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the legality of featuring Mr. Trump on the coin.
Mr. Beach said in his social media post that more information about the coins would be shared soon, “once the obstructionist shutdown of the United States government is over.”
Alan Rappeport is an economic policy reporter for The Times, based in Washington. He covers the Treasury Department and writes about taxes, trade and fiscal matters.
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