Treasury defends proposal to put Trump on $1 coin

The Treasury Department is defending a proposal to mint a $1 coin with images of President Trump to help celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday, citing a bill signed into law by Trump during the last week of his first administration.

“(Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent) is honored to exercise the authorities granted to him by Congress via the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 to issue coinage ‘with designs emblematic of the United States semiquincentennial’ reflecting (Trump) and his vision for America,” the Treasury wrote late Monday afternoon in a post on X.

“On this momentous anniversary, there is no profile more emblematic for the front of this coin than that of our serving president, Donald J. Trump,” the Treasury added.

The law cited by the Treasury was originally proposed by former U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, a California Democrat, and cosponsored by 151 Democrats and 17 Republicans. Trump signed the bill into law on Jan. 13, 2021.

On Friday, Treasurer Brandon Beach shared an X post featuring draft images of the proposed coin. In the design, the front of the coin shows Trump in profile with the word “liberty” above him and the years “1776-2026” below. On the back, Trump is holding up a clenched fist with an American flag behind him and the words “fight, fight, fight” above him.

The latter image is a nod to what happened in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s attempted assassination in Butler County during the 2024 presidential campaign. After a sniper’s bullet grazed Trump in the ear, he raised his right fist in the air and shouted, “Fight, fight, fight,” as Secretive Service agents rushed him off stage.

The proposed coin has generated debate.

Many critics have cited an 1866 law mandating that no living person’s portrait can be used on U.S. currency, but that refers to paper money produced by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Coins are minted by the U.S. Mint.

One provision of an earlier law on coinage, first passed in 1792 and amended repeatedly by Congress, prohibits depiction of a living current or former president, but that passage applies to $1 coins minted specifically to honor each of the U.S. presidents, not issued for other reasons, such as the country’s 250th anniversary.

The coin-related law signed by Trump notes 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 (or back side) of any coin.”

Some legal experts have said the proposed image on the back side of the coin is a wider illustration that would fall outside the ban on a “head and shoulders portrait or bust.”

Under the law signed by Trump, any designs used on semiquincentennial coins will be selected by the Treasury secretary after consulting with the Commission on Fine Arts and review by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.

Reuters contributed.