Oct. 3 (UPI) — The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday released a draft design of a $1 commemorative coin with images of President Donald Trump as part of the 250th anniversary in 2026 of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
HIs profile is on the “head” side of the coin and his fist is raised in front of an American flag on the “flip side.”
The back side resembles when he raised his fist after a gunman attempted to assassinate him during an outdoor presidential campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024. In November, he was elected as president again after four years out of office.
On the “tails side” around the outside edge of the tails side, the coin also reads, “Fight, fight, fight,” in addition to the traditional, “United States of America” and “E Pluribus Unum.”
“No fake news here,” U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach posted on X. “These first drafts honoring America’s 250th Birthday and @POTUS are real. Looking forward to sharing more soon, once the obstructionist shutdown of the United States government is over.”
A Treasury Department spokesperson said in a statement to Politico: “While a final $1 dollar coin design has not yet been selected to commemorate the United States’ semiquincentennial, this first draft reflects well the enduring spirit of our country and democracy, even in the face of immense obstacles.”
“I’m not sure if he’s seen it, but I’m sure he’ll love it,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing Friday.
Though it is commemorative, it is legal tender with a $1 value.
The Treasury may “mint for issuance during the one-year period beginning January 1, 2026, $1 dollar coins with designs emblematic of the U.S. semiquincentennial,” according to the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 when Joe Biden was president.
“No head and shoulders portrait or bust of any person, living or dead, and no portrait of a living person may be included,” he says.
Normally, coins can’t bear depictions of living presidents or deceased ones two years after death, according to U.S. Code § 5112 on coin designs.
Axios noted the only time a U.S. coin featured a sitting president was Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president, when a half-dollar coin included himself and George Washington, according to the U.S. Mint.
The U.S. Mint resumed issuing commemorative coins in 1982 after a 28-year absence.
Since 2000, commemorative coins include the 2000 Library of Congress Commemorative Coin Program, the American Buffalo in 2001, the 2019 Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Coins, the Basketball Hall of Fame that was colorized in 2020 and the Greatest Generation Coins in 2024 and U.S. Marine Corps 250th Anniversary this year.
Also the the 50 State Quarters Program ran from 1999 to 2008, and the American Women Quarters Program from 2022-2025. Quarters featuring national parks and historic sites from each state, D.C., and the U.S. territories were minted from 2010 to 2021.
Proof and uncirculated coins are specially designed for collectors.
The following presidents are on coins: Abraham Lincoln, penny; Thomas Jefferson, nickel; Franklin D. Roosevelt, dime; George Washington, quarter; John F. Kennedy, half dollar.
The U.S. Mint has ended production of the penny.
