{"id":3180,"date":"2025-10-08T10:36:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T10:36:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/08\/is-it-legal-for-trump-to-put-his-picture-on-us-mint-dollar-coin\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T10:36:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T10:36:28","slug":"is-it-legal-for-trump-to-put-his-picture-on-us-mint-dollar-coin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/08\/is-it-legal-for-trump-to-put-his-picture-on-us-mint-dollar-coin\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it legal for Trump to put his picture on US Mint dollar coin?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>President Donald Trump appears poised to put his image on both sides of a commemorative $1 coin issued by the United States Mint \u2013 the country\u2019s manufacturer of legal tender coinage that also produces commemorative coins.<\/p>\n<p>On October 3, the White House re-shared an X post from US Treasurer Brandon Beach confirming reports that the Trump administration was seeking to put the president\u2019s image on the front and back of a dollar coin commemorating the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2025\/10\/7\/trump-us-israel-very-close-to-making-a-deal-on-gaza-peace-plan\">Trump: US-Israel \u2018very close to making a deal\u2019 on Gaza peace plan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/7\/us-national-guard-troops-arrive-in-illinois-as-trump-escalates-crackdown\">US National Guard troops arrive in Illinois as Trump escalates crackdown<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/8\/white-house-memo-says-federal-workers-may-not-get-automatic-backpay-report\">White House memo says federal workers may not get automatic backpay: Report<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/8\/us-attorney-general-pam-bondi-clashes-with-critics-at-key-senate-hearing\">US Attorney General Pam Bondi clashes with critics at key Senate hearing<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>US currency typically does not feature living people \u2013 or sitting presidents \u2013 but it\u2019s not unprecedented.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere have been times in the past where commemorative coins have been printed with the faces of living people,\u201d White House National Economic Council chair Kevin Hassett said on CNN\u2019s State of the Union on October 5.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s right. Several living people have been featured on US currency in both the recent and distant past, including one president.<\/p>\n<p>Although the concept of a Trump coin runs counter to a longstanding tradition, there are no unscalable legal obstacles to establishing a US coin with Trump\u2019s image on it.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-has-the-trump-administration-proposed\">What has the Trump administration proposed?<\/h2>\n<p>Beach\u2019s X post showed the coin\u2019s front, featuring Trump\u2019s side profile, and its flip side \u2013 an illustration of Trump pumping his fist after a 2024 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/7\/14\/trump-shot-at-pennsylvania-rally-in-assassination-attempt-what-to-know\">assassination attempt<\/a> in Butler, Pennsylvania. The phrase, \u201cFight Fight Fight\u201d lines the coin\u2019s perimeter, referencing a Trump rallying cry repeated after the assassination attempt. Trump was not president at the time of the assassination attempt.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4016858\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4016858\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/G2WL8GgXkAM_w0K-1-1759910230.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C385&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Trump coins\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4016858\">Donald Trump Dollar [US Department of the Treasury]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At an October 3 White House press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, \u201cI\u2019m not sure if he\u2019s seen it, but I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll love it.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"would-this-design-be-legal\">Would this design be legal?<\/h2>\n<p>Multiple pieces of coinage legislation enacted over the past few decades have included specific language banning living people from being portrayed on US-minted coins. In one case \u2013 a\u00a0 series of coins launched in 2007 honouring every president \u2013 the law\u2019s text goes further to specify that no coin in the series may \u201cbear the image of a living former or current president, or of any deceased former president during the two-year period following the date of the death of that president\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>That barrier on living presidents was specific to that particular presidential coinage series, however \u2013 not to the series that would include the proposed Trump coin.<\/p>\n<p>The guidance governing the series the Trump administration is considering comes from legislation authorising a series of coins for the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary, known as the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Trump signed the measure into law in January 2021, during his first presidency, following unanimous passage by both chambers of Congress. It authorises the redesigns of quarters, half dollars and $1 coins in several sequential series, one of which is a 250th anniversary series to be launched in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>The law for the 250th series refers specifically to the reverse of the coin: \u201cNo 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 any coin\u201d in the series. But it doesn\u2019t rule out a portrait on the front of the coin.<\/p>\n<p>That may not be a high bar for Trump to jump if he wants to mint a coin with his image on it.<\/p>\n<p>Unless Congress acts, the process from here would involve only administration officials, meaning the president could maintain direct control. Even if the courts were inclined to block the proposal, experts said it\u2019s uncertain whether anyone would be able to cite a direct harm from producing a Trump coin \u2013 a requirement for filing a lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s unclear who would have standing to sue here,\u201d said Gabriel Mathy, an associate professor of economics at American University in Washington, DC, who has studied coinage issues.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"legal-or-not-history-has-not-favoured-using-living-people-on-us-currency\">Legal or not, history has not favoured using living people on US currency<\/h2>\n<p>Whether or not a Trump coin would be legal, numismatic experts \u2013 those who specialise in coins and related items \u2013 said there\u2019s a longstanding tradition in the United States of not depicting living people on coins.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot featuring current presidents on coins is an important and enduring part of the United States\u2019 history as a republic,\u201d Mathy said. \u201cGoing back thousands of years, coins traditionally carried the image of the current monarch. This is still the case in the United Kingdom, where coins are minted with the face of the reigning monarch, as well as in some other monarchies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe United States was founded as a republic, and the founders wanted to avoid making the president into a monarch,\u201d Mathy said. Putting a living president on a coin would be \u201cinconsistent with a long tradition of American republicanism\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the norm, living people have sometimes appeared on US currency.<\/p>\n<p>President Abraham Lincoln, his Treasury Secretary Salmon P Chase and US Army General Winfield Scott were among a small number of living figures to appear on US paper currency.<\/p>\n<p>During the Civil War, Spencer Clark, an official with the federal office responsible for printing paper money, put his own image on a five-cent note. He did it by leveraging a legal loophole: Congress had approved a note featuring an image of William Clark, the explorer from the Lewis &#038; Clark expedition of the Louisiana Territory, but lawmakers neglected to specify William Clark\u2019s first name in the legislation, journalist Blake Stilwell wrote in\u00a0Military.com.<\/p>\n<p>So Spencer Clark, having the same surname, inserted his own image instead of William Clark\u2019s. Clark also produced a separate note that featured then-US Treasurer Francis E Spinner.<\/p>\n<p>By the Civil War\u2019s end, \u201cCongress had time to pay attention to what the Bureau of Engraving and Printing was up to,\u201d Stilwell wrote.<\/p>\n<p>So in 1866, Congress passed a law saying no portrait or likeness of a living person would appear on \u201cbonds, securities, notes, fractional or postal currency of the United States\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The law doesn\u2019t mention coins, however. Living figures \u2013 and even one living president, Calvin Coolidge \u2013 have occasionally been featured on coins, including some in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>In 1921, the US released\u00a0a commemorative coin to mark Alabama\u2019s centennial, featuring side views of William Bibb, the state\u2019s first governor, and Thomas Kilby, its governor during the centennial. \u201cThis coin was the first ever created by the Mint to carry a living person\u2019s portrait,\u201d the Mint\u2019s website says.<\/p>\n<p>In 1926, during the nation\u2019s sesquicentennial celebration, Congress authorised the minting of a commemorative coin. The designers settled on a joint portrait of George Washington and Coolidge, who was president during the sesquicentennial.<\/p>\n<p>The coin proved\u00a0unpopular; of 1 million half dollars that were minted, more than 850,000 were returned to the Mint and melted.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4016820\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4016820\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1921-alabama-silver-reverse-2000x2000-1-1759909415.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C385&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"US coins\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4016820\">Alabama Centennial Half Dollar [United States Mint]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The other two examples we could find of a living figure minted on coins are more recent.<\/p>\n<p>The Mint created a congressionally authorised coin to commemorate the 1995 Special Olympics World Games. Congress didn\u2019t dictate the design, but the front of the coin featured Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who founded the Special Olympics for people with intellectual disabilities. She died in 2009.<\/p>\n<p>On February 6, 2016, the Mint released a congressionally authorised coin for former President Ronald Reagan and former First Lady Nancy Reagan, tied to the late president\u2019s 105th birthday. Nancy Reagan died one month later, on March 6, 2016.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"a-country-has-already-minted-a-coin-with-trump-s-image-on-it\">A country has already minted a coin with Trump\u2019s image on it<\/h2>\n<p>In 2025, the West African nation of Liberia produced a $1, one-ounce silver commemorative coin with Trump\u2019s image on the front, crowned by a laurel leaf in gold as if he were a Roman emperor. The motto read, \u201cIn Don We Trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If you can find one in stock, it would cost about $150 to $200, according to Google searches.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump appears poised to put his image on both sides of a commemorative $1 coin issued by the United States Mint \u2013 the country\u2019s manufacturer of legal tender coinage that also produces commemorative coins. On October 3, the White House re-shared an X post from US Treasurer Brandon Beach confirming reports that the &#8230; <a title=\"Is it legal for Trump to put his picture on US Mint dollar coin?\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/08\/is-it-legal-for-trump-to-put-his-picture-on-us-mint-dollar-coin\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Is it legal for Trump to put his picture on US Mint dollar coin?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}