US unveils draft design for $1 Trump coin to mark 250th independence celebrations

By Costas Pitas and Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Treasury on Friday launched a draft design for a $1 coin that includes President Donald Trump to commemorate 250 years because the declaration of American independence in 2026.

The entrance of the potential design confirmed Trump in profile with the phrase “liberty” above him and “1776-2026” under, in line with pictures shared by Treasurer Brandon Seashore on X and subsequently launched by Treasury.

The opposite facet of the coin confirmed Trump holding a raised clenched fist framed with the phrases “struggle, struggle, struggle” – a reference to what he mentioned instantly after surviving an assassination try final 12 months – and a flag within the background.

DEBATE ON DESIGN’S LEGALITY

“Whereas a ultimate $1 greenback coin design has not but been chosen to commemorate the USA’ semiquincentennial, this primary draft displays effectively the enduring spirit of our nation and democracy, even within the face of immense obstacles,” a Treasury spokesperson mentioned in a press release.

Seashore mentioned on X that extra data could be shared following the top of the federal government shutdown, which has suspended many federal operations whereas lawmakers stay at an deadlock over a brand new spending invoice.

Congress in 2020 handed a legislation that permits the Treasury Secretary to mint $1 cash in 2026 “with designs emblematic of the U.S. semiquincentennial.”

Debate rapidly erupted on social media in regards to the proposed coin, provided that the legislation particularly says “no head and shoulders portrait or bust of any particular person, dwelling or useless, and no portrait of a dwelling particular person could also be included within the design on the reverse of any coin” created to mark the U.S. anniversary.

The proposed design contains a wider illustration of Trump on the reverse facet, a transfer that authorized consultants mentioned would fall outdoors the ban on a “head and shoulders portrait or bust.”

An 1866 legislation mandates that no dwelling particular person’s portrait can be utilized on U.S. forex, however that refers to paper cash produced by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Cash are minted by the U.S. Mint.

One provision of an earlier legislation on coinage, first handed in 1792 and amended repeatedly by Congress, prohibits depiction of a dwelling present or former president, however that passage applies to $1 cash minted particularly to honor every of the U.S. presidents, not issued for different causes, such because the nation’s 250th anniversary.

To mark the 1976 bicentennial celebrations, the Treasury sponsored a nationwide competitors and picked for the $1 coin a design by a sculpture pupil that includes the Liberty Bell, an emblem of American independence, and the moon.

The opposite facet of the coin confirmed former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who died in 1969 and have become the primary president to function on a $1 coin in 1971.

Requested on Friday whether or not Trump had seen the draft coin design, White Home spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt mentioned, “I am undecided if he is seen it, however I am certain he’ll find it irresistible.”

(Reporting by Costas Pitas and Andrea Shalal; Enhancing by Ross Colvin and Rosalba O’Brien)