U.S. Mint releases $1 coin bearing President Trump's portrait for 250th anniversary

The United States Mint started circulating and selling a gold-coloured $1 coin with President Donald Trump’s portrait on the obverse, alongside the inscriptions “LIBERTY” and “IN GOD WE TRUST.” The reverse shows the presidential seal with the number “250,” commemorating the country’s 250th anniversary of independence. The Mint says the design reflects “the spirit, pride, and legacy of a nation approaching its landmark anniversary.”

The coin is legal tender and can be used for purchases, though it is sold at a premium – a roll of 25 coins costs $61 and a bag of 100 costs $154.50. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the issue on social media, stating it “celebrates the strength of American values, and the promise of a nation dedicated to preserving freedom for all.”

The release revives a practice not seen since the 1920s, when a commemorative coin for the nation’s 150th anniversary featured the then-sitting president Calvin Coolidge alongside George Washington. Unlike that earlier piece, the new coin is intended for circulation.

Critics argue the coin violates a long-standing tradition of featuring only deceased individuals on U.S. currency. Democratic Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jeff Merkley introduced legislation to block the portrait, with Cortez Masto saying, “While monarchs put their faces on coins, America has never had and never will have a king.” In a statement, Cortez Masto called the coin “completely contrary to America’s democratic values” and criticized it as a “vanity project.”

Legal scholars note that a 1866 law restricts portraits on currency to deceased persons, but the 2020 Circulating Collection Coin Redesign Act permits designs emblematic of the semiquincentennial on the obverse side, which the Mint argues makes the coin compliant.

The Treasury Department and Mint have not responded to requests for comment.