American law mandates that “only the portrait of a deceased person may appear on U.S. currency and securities.”
A spokesperson for the US Treasury Department previously told Business Insider that the commemorative Trump coin for America’s 250th anniversary would be produced in accordance with the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, which authorized “$1 coins featuring designs emblematic of the American Semiquincentennial during the one-year period beginning January 1, 2026.”
However, as Business Insider’s Katherine Li reported, the Circulated Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 also states that “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 certain coins.”
Yet the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were appointed by Trump, approved a design featuring his portrait earlier this year. The version unveiled in July differs slightly, including a gold-colored finish instead of solid gold.
It is unclear whether the Trump coin design will be successfully challenged in court; a federal lawsuit in Oregon was voluntarily dismissed in July, shortly after the final design was unveiled, Reason magazine reported.
Trump’s $1 coins finally went on sale on September 2, with a roll of 25 coins going for $61 and a bag of 100 coins going for $154.50. Within hours, the U.S. Mint’s website was updated to report that the coins were out of stock.
A living president has been featured on U.S. coinage before, when a Calvin Coolidge coin was created in 1926 for America’s 150th anniversary. NPR reported.
