250th Birthday Quarters Scrapped; Trump $1 Coin Stays
A sweeping redesign of America’s currency for the nation’s 250th anniversary has ignited fresh controversy, with a proposal now circulating that places President Donald Trump at the center of a commemorative $1 coin.
According to the online materials tied to the Mint’s semiquincentennial planning, new illustrations of Trump have been drafted for the obverse of a potential 2026 dollar coin. At the same time, concept art for earlier “America 250” quarters—once built around themes such as abolition, women’s suffrage, and civil rights—has reportedly been shelved in favor of a return to more traditional, founding-era motifs.
The Mint’s broader 2026 redesign calls for all coins to bear dual dates honoring both the birth of the nation and its 250-year milestone. As part of this shift, officials have previewed imagery steeped in Revolutionary-era symbolism, including iconic documents and scenes tied to America’s founding. These new directions come after the abandonment of concepts initiated during the Biden years that placed greater emphasis on later chapters of American social progress.
A series of five quarters is expected for 2026, each tied to a pivotal historical text or event: the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Revolutionary War, the U.S. Constitution, and the Gettysburg Address.
Treasurer Brandon Beach has acknowledged that a Trump-themed dollar is being weighed, and several reports describe mock-ups portraying Trump’s profile on one side and, on the other, an image of him thrusting his fist upward following the 2024 assassination attempt, accompanied by the words “FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT.”
The idea, however, runs directly into federal restrictions prohibiting living presidents—current or past—from appearing on U.S. coinage. Advocates of the new coin insist that special semiquincentennial authorities could offer legal leeway, while opponents argue it would violate long-established practice and risk politicizing the nation’s money.
Within conservative circles, the controversy is framed as part of a larger cultural battle over how America’s 250th birthday should be told: whether through the nation’s founding ideals and foundational texts or through what they see as the left’s negative reinterpretations of American history.
Alongside these debates, the Mint is also preparing updates to long-standing circulating coins for 2026. Even the dime—whose appearance has been unchanged for eight decades—is scheduled for a refresh. And although the penny exited daily circulation in 2025, collectors will still be able to obtain it in annual Mint sets, complete with the commemorative “1776 ~ 2026” dual date.
{Matzav.com}
