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The $1 Trump coin: legal tender, depending on what you mean by legal
The Guardian • • nation
Key Points:
- The US Mint has released a $1 coin featuring Donald Trump's image, despite longstanding laws and traditions against depicting living individuals on US currency.
- Since 1866, an amendment has prohibited the portrait or likeness of living people on currency, originally enacted after a treasury official controversially put his own face on a note.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the Trump coin by citing precedent from 1926 when Calvin Coolidge's image appeared on a coin during the US's 150th anniversary.
- Legal challenges against the coin have so far failed, with a federal judge declining to block its production due to lack of evidence of personal harm, though the legality remains disputed among experts.
- Approximately 9 million coins are being produced, sold at a premium price, and marketed as honoring 250 years of American heritage, despite criticism over the coin’s legality and perceived vanity.
