Bessent Unveils Design For $1 Gold Coin Featuring Trump’s Face
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday unveiled the first images of a $1 gold coin featuring President Donald Trump’s face, weeks after he revealed a new $250 bill with the president’s face, despite U.S. law prohibiting living people from appearing on currency.
In a post on X, Bessent showed the gold coin featuring Trump’s face on one side along with the text, “In God we trust,” and “Liberty 1776-2026.”
In the post, Bessent said the U.S. Mint will begin striking this new $1 gold coin to “honor the enduring legacy of liberty and a lasting symbol of patriotism.”
Bessent added the coin intends to commemorate 250 years of America’s independence and celebrate “American values.”
The design appears to match one of the proposed Semiquincentennial designs shown by the U.S. Mint earlier this year, rather than the 24-karat commemorative coin approved by the Federal Commission of Fine Arts in March.
Federal law prevents a living person’s face from appearing on U.S. currency, but the Trump administration has argued this particular coin circumvents that ban, based on a 2020 law allowing designs commemorating the country's 250th anniversary.
In December, a group of Democratic lawmakers, including Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., introduced a bill called the “Change Corruption Act” that explicitly prohibits the likeness of a living or sitting president from appearing on any U.S. currency. The “Thayer Amendment” is a 1886 law that prevents images of any living person from appearing on U.S. bonds, securities, notes, or currency. In 2005, Congress passed the “Presidential $1 Coin Act,” which allowed the issuance of circulating $1 coins featuring presidents of the United States. However, this law also restricted such coin series to deceased presidents.
In March, Trump’s handpicked panel serving on the Federal Commission of Fine Arts approved a special commemorative U.S. gold coin featuring the president. The 24-karat gold coin will feature a depiction of Trump leaning on the Resolute Desk, based on a photo currently on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Late in May, Bessent showed off a design for a new $250 bill featuring Trump’s face. The Treasury Secretary said the proposed design was a preparatory measure by the Treasury in the event Congress passes legislation to allow the president’s face to appear on the note. Bessent showed off the bill after a Washington Post report said the Treasury Department had pressured the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to produce mock-ups of the bill.