New Gold Coin?

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Onastone
Onastone Posts: 4,417 ✭✭✭✭✭
in U.S. Coin Forum

This keeps popping up, a living president on a coin? Saw this on the news this morning...will it really happen?

(Images taken off TV, sorry for bad quality.)

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  • johnny9434
    johnny9434 Posts: 34,068 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 19, 2026 11:49AM
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    I got eye trouble, I dont see it. Thats like the $250 bill a state or 2 wanted years ago

  • JBK
    JBK Posts: 17,862 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    It already happened. 1926, Calvin Coolidge.

  • Creg
    Creg Posts: 1,736 ✭✭✭✭✭
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  • Alpha2814
    Alpha2814 Posts: 385 ✭✭✭✭
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    @PerryHall said:

    @JBK said:
    It already happened. 1926, Calvin Coolidge.

    Good point. A precedent was set when then current President Coolidge was portrayed on the 1926 Sesquicentennial half dollar.

    Was Coolidge part of the legislated design approved by Congress? I can't find the original text.

  • jmlanzaf
    jmlanzaf Posts: 43,048 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @stawick said:
    That'd be a BIG FAT NO!!! (I mean I would never get one. :s )

    Saw that on the news recently.
    I thought I heard there cant be a living person on a coin ("Nolan Ryan" supposedly on an Olympic silver $, I have 1 or 2).
    But now I hear they just havent had a sitting president on a coin since Coolidge.

    Will probably be a 2.5 oz gold piece, too $$$$$ for the masses, affordable for the 1%. I hope it goes over like the Melania "fillem". :D:p

    Calvin Coolidge. Ethel Kennedy. The Alabama governor Kilby. There is no such ban on living people on coins.

    [Not saying it's a good or bad idea. It's just neither a first nor illegal. ]

    All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.

  • JBK
    JBK Posts: 17,862 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I believe that Buzz Aldrin was pictured on the 5 ounce Apollo pucks several years ago. He wasn't recognizable in his space suit but the image portrayed recreated an image from the Moon landing which pictured him.

  • JBK
    JBK Posts: 17,862 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 19, 2026 1:56PM
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    Here's some trivia I learned this week....

    Ronald Reagan had passed away and was due to be pictured on a presidential dollar coin, but Nancy Reagan was still alive. The program called for a first spouse gold coin to be issued with each presidential dollar coin.

    They decided they would go ahead and issue her gold coin while she was living. She participated in the design selection process but passed away a few months prior to the coin's issuance.

    However, she was cleared and on track to be pictured on a coin while still living.

  • HalfDime
    HalfDime Posts: 1,191 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 19, 2026 1:31PM
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    Yes, that is the final design for the coin before production. They need to add the denomination and fineness, and the meeting to approve it was today.

  • Alpha2814
    Alpha2814 Posts: 385 ✭✭✭✭
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    So far, it's looking like all of the examples of living people on coins were part of a legislated design passed by Congress, and that this would be the first such example directed solely by the executive.

  • JBK
    JBK Posts: 17,862 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @Alpha2814 said:
    So far, it's looking like all of the examples of living people on coins were part of a legislated design passed by Congress, and that this would be the first such example directed solely by the executive.

    As far as i know, all coins are struck under congressional legislation. One of the gold coin programs gives the Secretary of the Treasury the authority to select designs.

    So many things can be called a "first" if you add enough conditions to distinguish it from all the others.

    And BTW, isn't there still a proposed dollar coin that is giving half the people in the country the vapors? When is that one coming out? 🤔

  • MetroD
    MetroD Posts: 2,568 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 19, 2026 6:29PM
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    @JBK said:

    As far as i know, all coins are struck under congressional legislation. One of the gold coin programs gives the Secretary of the Treasury the authority to select designs.

    [...]

    As I understand it, the SoT has the authority to direct the Mint to produce certain gold coins as numismatic products.

    31 U.S.C. § 5112(i)(4)(C):

    Source: Page #376 @ https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title31/pdf/USCODE-2023-title31-subtitleIV-chap51-subchapII-sec5112.pdf

    Edited to Add:

    Source: https://www.usmint.gov/news/inside-the-mint/how-coins-are-made-design-and-selection-process

  • stawick
    stawick Posts: 608 ✭✭✭✭
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    @jakeblue said:

    @stawick said:
    That'd be a BIG FAT NO!!! (I mean I would never get one. :s )

    Saw that on the news recently.
    I thought I heard there cant be a living person on a coin ("Nolan Ryan" supposedly on an Olympic silver $, I have 1 or 2).
    But now I hear they just havent had a sitting president on a coin since Coolidge.

    Will probably be a 2.5 oz gold piece, too $$$$$ for the masses, affordable for the 1%. I hope it goes over like the Melania "fillem". :D:p

    You mean that if I buy one, I am no longer a part of the 99%?! Sign me up!

    You could be a member of the League of Peace, or whatever they call that. This'll be the "challenge coin". ;)

  • Old_Collector
    Old_Collector Posts: 1,210 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @JBK said:
    Here's some trivia I learned this week....

    Ronald Reagan had passed away and was due to be pictured on a presidential dollar coin, but Nancy Reagan was still alive. The program called for a first spouse gold coin to be issued with each presidential dollar coin.

    They decided they would go ahead and issue her gold coin while she was living. She participated in the design selection process but passed away a few months prior to the coin's issuance.

    However, she was cleared and on track to be pictured on a coin while still living.

    Presidential spouse issues were medals, they have no denomination and thus are not relevant to the issue of a living person on a coin, just like the Presidential medals.

  • MetroD
    MetroD Posts: 2,568 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @Old_Collector said:

    @JBK said:
    Here's some trivia I learned this week....

    Ronald Reagan had passed away and was due to be pictured on a presidential dollar coin, but Nancy Reagan was still alive. The program called for a first spouse gold coin to be issued with each presidential dollar coin.

    They decided they would go ahead and issue her gold coin while she was living. She participated in the design selection process but passed away a few months prior to the coin's issuance.

    However, she was cleared and on track to be pictured on a coin while still living.

    Presidential spouse issues were medals, they have no denomination and thus are not relevant to the issue of a living person on a coin, just like the Presidential medals.

    The 'first spouse' program included gold coins and bronze medals.
    Reference: https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coins-and-medals/collectible-coins/first-spouse-coins-and-medals

  • Old_Collector
    Old_Collector Posts: 1,210 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @Rc5280 said:

    @Old_Collector said:

    @JBK said:
    Here's some trivia I learned this week....

    Ronald Reagan had passed away and was due to be pictured on a presidential dollar coin, but Nancy Reagan was still alive. The program called for a first spouse gold coin to be issued with each presidential dollar coin.

    They decided they would go ahead and issue her gold coin while she was living. She participated in the design selection process but passed away a few months prior to the coin's issuance.

    However, she was cleared and on track to be pictured on a coin while still living.

    Presidential spouse issues were medals, they have no denomination and thus are not relevant to the issue of a living person on a coin, just like the Presidential medals.

    Lol. Plenty of Spouse Coins were minted - denomination & all...
    .

    Thanks! Never seen those before, all I've seen are the base metal issued medals.

  • The_Dinosaur_Man
    The_Dinosaur_Man Posts: 1,592 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Were any of the Marines from the famous Iwo Jima photograph still alive when the 2005 commemorative was issued? I was trying to think of the latest example of a living person being featured on a U.S. coin.

    Custom album maker and numismatic photographer.
    Need a personalized album made? Design it on the website below and I'll build it for you.
    https://www.donahuenumismatics.com/.

  • JBK
    JBK Posts: 17,862 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @The_Dinosaur_Man said:
    Were any of the Marines from the famous Iwo Jima photograph still alive when the 2005 commemorative was issued? I was trying to think of the latest example of a living person being featured on a U.S. coin.

    Unfortunately none were.

    Three of the six flag raisers didn't survive the battle. There were also a few misidentifications that took several decades to sort out.

    The 2019 Apollo 11 50th anniversary silver coin portrayed Buzz Aldrin.

    From the interweb:

    The depiction of Aldrin made him the seventh individual to appear on a U.S. coin who was alive at the time the coins were struck.

  • BillJones
    BillJones Posts: 35,935 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Coolidge on the 1926 Sesquicentennial coin was just a representation of the first and most recent president. It did not look like an election campaign item.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
  • WQuarterFreddie
    WQuarterFreddie Posts: 3,305 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    It's Official!! This coin will be produced by the Mint:

    https://apnews.com/article/trump-gold-coin-250th-anniversary-8be387e70ae561c62e27552bf47fb430

  • johnny9434
    johnny9434 Posts: 34,068 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @Goldbully said:

    I always loved the aunt. She's funny 🙂

  • PerryHall
    PerryHall Posts: 47,753 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @ernie11 said:
    Regarding Coolidge, he didn't appear alone, unlike this design. Coolidge was in the background behind George Washington, and it was to commemorate the Sesqui and had the Liberty Bell on the back. It was not a coin issued to salve Coolidge's ego.

    Apparently, after over 100 years of honoring people, the Unted States Mint is a victim of its own success - it has finally run out of decent human beings to honor.

    Does this mean that you won't be buying this coin? ;)

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • Onastone
    Onastone Posts: 4,417 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I guess there won't be a silver version, just gold, and larger than an ounce.

  • ernie11
    ernie11 Posts: 2,113 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 20, 2026 6:25AM
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    @PerryHall said:

    @ernie11 said:
    Regarding Coolidge, he didn't appear alone, unlike this design. Coolidge was in the background behind George Washington, and it was to commemorate the Sesqui and had the Liberty Bell on the back. It was not a coin issued to salve Coolidge's ego.

    Apparently, after over 100 years of honoring people, the Unted States Mint is a victim of its own success - it has finally run out of decent human beings to honor.

    Does this mean that you won't be buying this coin? ;)

    Of course I am. I plan to put this on my want list, right underneath the 2026 clad mint set for $124.50 and the 2026 clad proof set for $107. ;)

  • Odin
    Odin Posts: 29 ✭✭✭
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    Since this is a very limited production run perhaps we will see a 2.5 oz. coin with a $250 denomination.

    The front of the coin features an image of Trump in a suit and tie and with a stern look on his face. His fists rest on top of what is supposed to be a desk as he leans forward. Lettering on the top half of the coin spells “LIBERTY” in a slight arc. Directly underneath that are the dates 1776-2026. The words “IN GOD WE TRUST” are at the bottom, with seven stars on one side of the coin and six stars on the other side.

    The reverse side depicts a bald eagle midflight with “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” on the right side and “E PLURIBUS UNUM” on the left side.

    “I know it’s a very strong and a very tough image of him, and I think it’s fitting to have a current sitting president who’s presiding over the country over the 250th year on a commemorative coin for said year,” said Commissioner Chamberlain Harris, a top White House aide to Trump.

    The coin will be part of a “very limited production run,” Sullivan said, but the number has not been determined. The size and denomination of the coin also have not yet been decided, she said. Some commissioners noted Trump’s fondness for big things as they advocated for the largest size coin.

    The Mint, which is part of the Treasury Department, has looked at a size for the Trump coin that is larger than its 1-ounce (28-gram) gold coin, which is about 1.3 inches (3.3 centimeters) in diameter, Sullivan said.

    Its largest coin is 3 inches (7.6 centimeters), “so we’re looking somewhere in there,” she said.

  • logger7
    logger7 Posts: 9,859 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 20, 2026 8:07AM
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    As a matter of principle, for many years, either artistic renderings of women, often idealized ones were used on US coinage; then at some point the Romanesque male imagery emerged with the Barber coins. I prefer artistically rendered women from the Flowing Hair designs on, they're more aesthetic. I can understand the logic of memorial coinage such as the Washington quarter which first came out in the 200 year anniversary of the President's birth as well as the Kennedy and Ike dollars.

    An artist starts with a blank canvas with possible designs they're trying to work with. Think of St. Gaudens and all the years he spent becoming the greatest in his field before he was hired by Teddy Roosevelt's team. I don't see that coming back.

  • WQuarterFreddie
    WQuarterFreddie Posts: 3,305 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @scotty1419 said:
    Regardless of debate on appropriateness of a sitting president getting their coin, and while in office.....

    Can we all agree it's terrible obverse design??

    Yes it is. Love the Reverse but do not like the Obverse. Should be a side portrait like Washington.

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