Oh this gladdens my heart. This truly does. We all saw the mockups for the Trump $1.00 coin, which would enable you to pay all debts, public and private, with a coin bearing the likeness of the guy who put the U.S. economy into economic free fall the minute he took the oath of office the second time. The coin was intended to commemorate the nation’s 250th birthday, but guess what? It’s illegal to put the image of any living person on a coin. So if there is to be any Trump money, it will be after he’s pushing up the daisies.
According to draft images of the coin posted on social media by the U.S. treasurer, Brandon Beach, the “heads” side would have Mr. Trump’s profile and the “tails” side an image of him standing before the American flag and pumping his fist under the words “Fight, Fight, Fight.” The coin would be legal tender and go into circulation in 2026.
The Treasury is authorized to mint the coins for a year, according to the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020. The coins must have “designs emblematic of the U.S. semiquincentennial,” the legislation says.
It is not clear that Mr. Trump’s image can be featured on a coin. An 1866 law enshrined a tradition that only deceased people could appear on U.S. currency to avoid the appearance that America was a monarchy.
An explanation of the legislation on an archived page from the Treasury’s website noted that the act “was caused by an uproar over the actions of the chief of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Spencer Clark,” who had “placed himself on a five-cent note and had a large quantity of them printed before it was noticed.”
That webpage has been removed from the Treasury’s website.
How much do you want to bet that Trump tries to repeal that 1866 law? Let me put it this way, does anybody want to bet against it? I’ll bet the online bookies will give us a clue before too much more time passes.
