The U.S. Treasury plans to mint a $1 Donald Trump coin. And — you guessed it — it may be against the law.
These days the reaction is: law, schmaw. Who cares?
But these plans are reportedly serious:
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.T
An explanation of the legislation on an archived page from the Treasury’s website noted that the act “was caused by an uproar over the actions of the chief of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Spencer Clark,”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.
Doing it despite laws or norms would be part of the new normal under Trump. Donald Trump has the Waddyagonnadoaboutdit presidency. He ignores a law or a norm and when there’s a complaint and/or uproar his response to institutions and the Republican controlled Congress is waddyagonnadoaboutdit. Their answer to that question is either a)nothing, or, b) not much.
Actually a new Donald Trump postage stamp might be more popular for many Americans. They would get to spit on its back side.
Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, JFK and FDR are all on US coins. But none of them put themselves on the coins, that was done to honor them after death. Trump, on the other hand, now plans to put his own face on coins next year. @arappeport https://t.co/fW3qwfYRtp
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) October 4, 2025
Very excited about the new Trump coin. Totally legally, fun and cool. pic.twitter.com/GY9l0wQid7
— Kentucky High School Sports History (@KYHSHistory) October 4, 2025
If you need to break the law and tradition to put Trump on a coin to have some enthusiasm for the 250th anniversary of the founding, I question your patriotism. Trump’s ego and his lickspittles’ desire to feed it, should have nothing to do with commemorating the founding. https://t.co/kq97GPzHvj
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) October 4, 2025
It's so funny that not only is he the only U.S. president so brazenly vain he wants currency with his face on it while he's still in office, it also apparently isn't enough to have him only on the front, like every other unit of currencyhttps://t.co/Kis8v5InW1
— Andrew Egger (@EggerDC) October 3, 2025
How profoundly I miss living in a serious country… https://t.co/nCkRBEz9GL
— Dave Hale – Concerned Republican (@CountryFirstRep) October 3, 2025
I'm willing to give trump a coin if he'll fulfill the requirements pic.twitter.com/FJEzPUwuME
— stig malmqvist #NAFO fellas (@Rod_dk) October 4, 2025
John Avlon on the Trump coin: It's hard to put into words just how insane this is.
Erin Burnett: This is not normal.
Avlon: We have an unwritten rule in America; you don't put living people on coins.
Margaret Hoover: It's a federal law.
Avlon: This is just a codification of… pic.twitter.com/KjBNL5odn2
— Blue Georgia (@BlueATLGeorgia) October 3, 2025
The Treasury is planning to mint a $1 coin featuring Trump’s face for America’s 250th anniversary.-POLITICO
Welcome to the banana republic. pic.twitter.com/wvWpxDlSrv
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) October 3, 2025
As a kid, I got into politics partly to do my bit fighting the Soviet Union.
Now we have a president who wants to turn us into a country that mimics the Soviet Union. https://t.co/VWdk3zh5jD
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) October 3, 2025
US Treasury Explores New Trump Coin, US Treasurer Says—Despite Legal Hurdleshttps://t.co/yECvBKyOW2 pic.twitter.com/PlkwKDeLFX
— Forbes (@Forbes) October 3, 2025
BREAKING: THE TREASURY IS PLANNING TO MINT A $1 COIN FEATURING TRUMP’S FACE FOR AMERICA’S 250TH ANNIVERSARY pic.twitter.com/70DPnB9y7y
— Isaiah Martin (@isaiahrmartin) October 4, 2025
Trump doesn’t need a $1 coin with his face on it to feel loved. He needs a psychiatrist to deal with his raging narcissistic personality disorder.
WTF is this nonsense?! pic.twitter.com/q8O63QJJGJ
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline) October 3, 2025
If there’s a new coin with Trump on it, this is what it should look like:
Heads Tails pic.twitter.com/cIUiJjEdnl
— 1finekitty (@1finekitty) October 4, 2025
Only autocrats do this sh*t.
"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."https://t.co/N6Xs2MRDCG
— Dean Blobaum @[email protected] (@dblobaum) October 4, 2025
Do you like the new Trump coin? pic.twitter.com/xZ3DJCrWwF
— ?? Psych Superman (@remy2cents) October 4, 2025
Trump administration officials have proposed minting a $1 coin featuring President Trump’s image on it to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States next year, a plan that could violate the law. https://t.co/qsYQCqO7hp
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 3, 2025
Can you put the president’s face on the 250th anniversary dollars, I tell the Washington Post: not within the spirit of the law, but if you’re hyper-technical and splitting hairs while rendering law meaningless, sure. https://t.co/ROIpif1gjY
— Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) October 4, 2025
Top image by DonkeyHotey/Flickr
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.