The $1 coin designed to celebrate America's 250th birthday — and seemingly President Donald Trump, whose face gazes from one side of the gold finish — went on sale Wednesday, according to the U.S. Mint.
The coin's design — Trump's visage as “heads” and the Great Seal of the United States as “tails” — received the stamp of approval this year from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members Trump appointed. In past comments, the president said that the idea to stamp his face on a coin was “very unusual” but that he was “honored by it.”
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The president's second term has brought several such brandings, or attempts at them, that have become tangled up in lawsuits. That includes moves to put Trump's name on the Kennedy Center and the U.S. Institute of Peace, as Trump works to leave his stamp on history and on Washington, D.C.
The coins, which can be used as legal tender, drew some criticism, particularly because of federal law that bars the depiction of a living president on U.S. currency. But in some circumstances, the Treasury Secretary does have authority to authorize the minting and issuance of special coins.
The coins were struck to “honor 250 years of great American heritage,” the U.S. Mint wrote on its website. In an arc above Trump's face is written “LIBERTY," and below is “1776 (tilde) 2026.” On the flip side is the Great Seal of the United States, with the bald eagle gripping arrows in one claw and an olive branch in the other. In a banner clutched in its beak is written “E PLURIBUS UNUM," Latin for "out of many, one.”
A roll of 25 coins will cost $61, and a bag of 100 will cost $154.50, and the U.S. Mint said it randomly hid some special-issue coins among the rolls and bags. Those will be marked “July 4th” because they were struck on that day, the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Households are limited to only two orders for the time being. Late Wednesday, the U.S. Mint's website posted: “This item is available to be ordered now, but it is not currently in stock. Additional inventory is being made.”
