For America's 250th, Should the Coin of Trump's Realm Be Gold?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, Joe.My.God.

https://www.joemygod.com/2026/02/trump-wants-his-face-on-america-250-gold-coin/

A sketch of a coin featuring President Trump is the second one proposed by the administration. US Treasury

For America’s 250th, Should the Coin of Trump’s Realm Be Gold?

A federally appointed committee is pushing back on plans to mint gold currency depicting President Trump.

By Dan Barry

Published Feb. 25, 2026
Updated Feb. 26, 2026, 1:42 p.m. ET

The Trump administration has worked hard to ensure that this year’s celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrates President Trump as well. Perhaps nothing reflects its concerted efforts better than a plan for a one-dollar coin depicting the president in profile, despite a national tradition of avoiding symbolism that even faintly evokes a monarchy. ... But one Trump coin, it seems, is not celebration enough. The administration has now proposed an additional coin that portrays the president with fists planted on a desk, his face evoking a determination bordering on fury. This coin would match the dominant color scheme of just about every nook, cranny and plaster cherub in the Trump Oval Office. ... Gold.

But the numismatic glorification of Mr. Trump has repeatedly met resistance from one of the more obscure corners of the federal government: an entity known as the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee. ... Statutorily required to review the themes and designs of proposed coins, the committee has wielded its limited powers to slow, if not block, these Trump coins from being struck by the U.S. Mint in time for the anniversary celebrations this summer.

The committee’s latest move came at the start of its monthly meeting on Tuesday, a few days after a curious notice appeared in the Federal Register. It was a last-minute addition to the meeting’s agenda by the U.S. Mint that said, simply: “review and discussion of a Semiquincentennial Gold Coin.” ... The committee’s acting chairman, a lawyer and Democrat from New Jersey named Donald Scarinci, began the meeting by announcing that, on behalf of a majority of its members, he had removed this last-minute addition. There would be no discussion of a gold coin.

But Mr. Scarinci, who has served on the coinage committee for more than two decades, went on to note the disconnect in proposing coins that feature a sitting president as a way to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which rejected governance by a king. ... “For 250 years, since that great document was signed — with a few controversial exceptions — no nation on earth has issued coins with the image of a democratically elected leader during the time of their service,” Mr. Scarinci said. “Only those nations ruled by kings or dictators display the image of their sitting ruler on the coins of the realm. God bless America, and may God preserve our nation.”

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The design of the coin mirrors a photograph of Mr. Trump on display at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington.Credit...Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times

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Dan Barry is a longtime reporter and columnist, having written both the “This Land” and “About New York” columns. The author of several books, he writes on myriad topics, including New York City, sports, culture and the nation.