A sitting US president is set to appear on an American coin for the first time in 100 years. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that the US Mint will begin producing a $1 gold coin featuring President Donald Trump. The coin will mark 250 years since American independence.

The Treasury and US Mint have not yet said when the coin will go on sale. They have also not announced its price or how many coins will be produced.

What the Trump Gold Coin Design Shows

Bessent shared the design on X. The obverse pairs a portrait of President Donald Trump with the inscriptions “Liberty,” “In God We Trust,” and “1776-2026.” The reverse carries the Great Seal of the United States with a heraldic eagle.

The artwork has a longer history than Wednesday’s reveal suggests. US Treasurer Brandon Beach confirmed the first drafts in October 2025. One early reverse showed Trump raising his fist beside the words “FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT.” The final design drops that image of the eagle.

The $1 piece is also distinct from a separate 24-karat gold commemorative approved in March.

Trump appointed the approving panel, the US Commission of Fine Arts, earlier this year. That coin depicts Trump leaning on a desk and will be limited to a run of potentially three inches wide.

Legal Questions Over a Sitting President on US Currency

An 1866 law bars living people from appearing on US currency. Only one president has appeared on a coin while in office. Calvin Coolidge shared the 1926 half dollar with George Washington, a coin Congress authorized to help fund Philadelphia’s Sesquicentennial Exposition.

The administration leans on the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020. Trump signed the bipartisan law on January 13, 2021, one week before leaving office. It lets the Treasury mint $1 coins with Semiquincentennial designs, but only during 2026.

The same statute bars any portrait of a person, living or dead, on the reverse of covered coins. The new design sidesteps that clause by placing Trump on the obverse and the eagle on the back. Legal experts have pointed to the clause and to the 1866 ban in questioning the coin’s legality.

Treasury officials have made no secret of the intent behind the design.

“As we approach our 250th birthday, we are thrilled to prepare coins that represent the enduring spirit of our country and democracy, and there is no profile more emblematic for the front of such coins than that of our serving President, Donald J. Trump,” said Beach.

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Opponents see the coin differently. They argue it politicizes currency and breaks with tradition. The coin adds to a string of recent Trump policy moves that have divided markets and lawmakers this month.

What Collectors Should Watch Next

The statute treats the coins as legal tender and authorizes proof and uncirculated versions. It also directs the Federal Reserve and Treasury to keep supplies available for commerce and collectors. However, the Mint has not confirmed mintage, pricing, or a release date.

The issuance window itself is narrow. The law permits these dollars only during 2026, with designs reverting in 2027. That built-in time limit will cap supply regardless of the mintage of the Mint sets. Federal law also bars the sale of any of the coins at a net cost to the government.

The reveal lands weeks after Bessent showed a $250 bill bearing Trump’s image. On the same day as the coin announcement, his Treasury also froze Iranian crypto assets worth over $130 million.

Trump’s likeness already circulates in digital assets, where his meme coin faces scrutiny in Congress after a reported $636 million windfall. Physical gold, by contrast, lagged US stocks as a hedge during this year’s US-Iran conflict.

Whether the coin becomes pocket change or a low-mintage trophy now rests on those unpublished details. The Mint’s product schedule in the coming weeks should settle the question.

Источник: BeInCrypto