Trump appears on gold coin marking America’s 250th

The U.S. Mint started producing a $1 gold coin commemorating America’s semiquincentennial with President Donald Trump’s face, according to a Wednesday statement from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The coin honored America’s 250 years of independence and the enduring legacy of liberty and patriotism, Bessent wrote.

Trump’s appearance on the coin was designed to celebrate the strength of American values and the promise of preserving freedom for all, he added. The coin marked the first time in 100 years that a sitting president appeared on a coin.

Several Democratic lawmakers took issue with the coin and accused Trump of being out of touch with Americans. Families are struggling to make ends meet, and Trump seemingly couldn't care less, Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., wrote on Wednesday. Trump is consumed by vanity while families just want affordable food and housing, he added.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., described the coin as self-serving insanity in a Wednesday statement, quipping that the coin celebrated the rising prices of gas and groceries. History will judge the grifters in positions of power enabling Trump’s ego, Sen. Scott Wiener, D-Calif., wrote Wednesday.

Has a sitting president ever appeared on a U.S. coin? President Calvin Coolidge made history as the first sitting president to be featured on a coin. The Mint struck a half-dollar coin in 1926 featuring the then-president to celebrate the American sesquicentennial.

Abraham Lincoln became the first sitting president to appear on any form of American currency. The Mint featured Lincoln on the 1861 $10 note design, known at the time as demand notes or greenbacks. Congress formally banned any living person from appearing on U.S. currency notes in 1866 with the Thayer Amendment.

George Washington became the second president featured on paper money in the 1869 design of the $1 bill. Washington historically refused to appear on coins during his lifetime, describing it as too monarchical.

So how did Coolidge and Trump get on coins under the Thayer Amendment? The federal regulation technically only applied to currency produced for general circulation, not commemorative coins produced in limited quantities. Congress authorizes commemorative coins to celebrate different American people, places, and events, according to the Mint.

Doesn’t the Presidential Coin Act prohibit sitting presidents from being featured? The 2005 $1 Coin Act authorized the Mint to produce gold $1 coins featuring American presidents, and expressly banned using the image of any living former or current president. However, the 2005 statute only applied to the Mint’s Presidential $1 Coin Program, which ran from 2007 in 2016.