General Discussion

It’s against this backdrop that NBC News reported:

The Treasury on Friday shared draft images of a $1 commemorative coin, featuring President Donald Trump’s visage, that the United States Mint is preparing in honor of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Trump’s instantly recognizable profile is featured on the ‘heads’ side of the coin. On the ‘tails’ side, the coin will have an image of Trump with his first raised, standing in front of an American flag.

.....I should probably emphasize that this is not a joke. The report is not satire. This is not intended to make the administration look foolish for the sake of comedy......

Putting aside questions of propriety, how would this be legal? The answer is, it might not be. The New York Times reported:

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.

Let’s also not overlook the fact that the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 also states, “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 any coin under subsections (x), (y), and (z).”