Treasury Secretary Brandon Beach shares images of a proposed commemorative coin that the Trump administration wants as part of its effort to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America's founding.

WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department announced Oct. 3 that it is considering a plan to mint new $1 coins bearing President Donald Trump’s image – and his now-iconic fist-raised posture after being shot – to commemorate America’s 250th birthday.

In swift succession, the story was first reported by Fox News, then confirmed by Treasury Secretary Brandon Beach, and then blasted out by the White House and its Rapid Response 47 social media handle.

All of the posts show a mock-up of a silver coin with Trump’s face on one side and him looking skyward and pumping his fist in the air, as he did when he survived a July 2024 assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., and was being escorted offstage by Secret Service agents.

“No fake news here. These first drafts honoring America’s 250th Birthday and @POTUS are real,” Beach said in his post on X. “Looking forward to sharing more soon, once the obstructionist shutdown of the United States government is over."

Beach did not respond to a USA TODAY request for comment via X on whether the coin might violate a federal law that prohibits any living person from being on U.S. currency.

"Despite the radical left's forced shutdown of our government, the facts are clear: Under the historic leadership of President Donald J. Trump, our nation is entering its 250th anniversary stronger, more prosperous, and better than ever," the Treasury Department told USA TODAY in a statement. "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. We look forward to sharing more soon."

"A living person may not appear on U.S. currency'

Paper currency is produced by the Treasury Department's Bureau of Engraving and Printing, while coins are handled by the U.S. mint.

In a 2016 article, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco confirmed that, "a living person may not appear on U.S. currency."

"To avoid the appearance of a monarchy, it was long-standing tradition to only feature portraits of deceased individuals on currency and coin," it said. "That tradition became law with an 1866 Act of Congress."

“No coin issued may bear the image of a living former or current President,” says the federal law − 31 U.S. Code 5112 regarding coin denominations, specifications, and design, according to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.

Treasury Department officials did not respond to questions late Oct. 3 as to whether any special carve-outs have been established for commemorative coins, including the one that Trump is proposing.

The legislation also mandated that no “head and shoulders portrait or bust of any person, living or dead, and no portrait of a living person may be included in the design on the reverse of specified coins.”

Other commemorative coins

During Trump’s first administration, Congress passed the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 that authorized the Department of the Treasury to issue commemorative coins beginning January 1, 2026, “with up to five different designs emblematic of the U.S. semiquincentennial.”

The law said some of the coins may honor Native Americans and innovators, and one of the 25 cent coins must honor a woman. Commemorative coins honoring the 200th anniversary of the birth of Harriet Tubman, a former slave who helped other slaves escape through the Underground Railroad, were issued in 2024.

Contributing: Joey Garrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Treasury Department is considering a Trump $1 coin for 250th US birthday

Reporting by Josh Meyer, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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