President Trump is finally getting some change he can believe in: a gold $1 coin with his face on it.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Wednesday that the U.S. Mint would begin striking the new coins in celebration of the nation’s 250 years of independence. The creation of the coins bearing Mr. Trump’s image is one of several initiatives the Trump administration has been working on to fuse the president’s legacy with American currency, including adding his signature to new notes this year and an effort to create a $250 bill with his portrait.
In a post on social media, Mr. Bessent said that the new coin would “honor the enduring legacy of liberty and a lasting symbol of patriotism.”
The Treasury Department unveiled initial designs of the coins last year. The plans to mint money with Mr. Trump’s image stirred controversy because of an 1866 law that enshrined a tradition that only deceased people could appear on U.S. currency to avoid the appearance that America was a monarchy.
But the Treasury Department defended the move, explaining that it was authorized to mint the coin under the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020. It noted that Mr. Bessent was exercising authorities to issue coinage “with designs emblematic of the United States semiquincentennial” and that the proposed images reflect Mr. Trump and his vision for America.
Changes to American money tend to be controversial, as the imagery that is chosen typically reflects how people view the nation’s identity.
A 2016 push during the Obama administration to put Harriet Tubman, a former slave and abolitionist, on the $20 note became a fraught political issue. That effort stalled during the first Trump administration and Mr. Bessent said this month that the Treasury Department has no plans to carry out that initiative.
The new notes bearing Mr. Trump’s signature, along with that of Mr. Bessent, are currently being printed and will be in circulation later this year. Because paper currency is not allowed to include images of the living, the proposed $250 notes would require legislation from Congress.
It is not clear when the new commemorative coins will be available or how much they will cost. The U.S. Mint currently sells semiquincentennial proof sets for $107.
A U.S. Mint spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
The new coin drew rebukes from both Democrats and Republicans who have been critical of Mr. Trump for using the nation’s birthday to celebrate himself.
Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, said that the United States had entered “the end stages.”
“Eliminate the penny, plug the nickel, and make some commemorative gold coins nobody can afford,” Mr. Massie wrote in a post on X. “I feel sorry for the folks who will be sold worthless knockoffs of this by the usual grifters.”
Senator Maggie Hassan, a New Hampshire Democrat, called the coins “ridiculous and un-American.”
“The American people deserve a president who cares more about putting money in people’s pockets than he does about putting his face on people’s money,” Ms. Hassan said.
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