Trump becomes first sitting US president to appear on a coin as Mint releases $1 piece

American money now carries the current US president's face.

The US Mint confirmed on Thursday that the "golden dollar" featuring the likeness of US President Donald Trump has been released, urging people to check their pocket change while collectors can buy it in rolls and bags sold exclusively through its own channels.

The products are priced at $61 for a 25-coin roll and $154.50 for a 100-coin bag.

In practice, finding one in everyday change may take patience, since dollar coins have caught on widely with American shoppers and circulate far more sparsely than notes.

Collectors also have another detail to chase as the US Mint struck 250,000 of the coins on 4 July carrying a special "July 4th" privy mark, dispersed through the rolls and bags.

Despite its colour, the coin contains no gold, being 88.5% copper with smaller quantities of zinc, manganese and nickel.

The coin was struck in Philadelphia and carries no mint mark.

Chief Engraver Joseph Menna designed the obverse from an official White House photograph, showing Trump facing almost directly forward beneath the inscriptions "LIBERTY", "IN GOD WE TRUST" and the dual date 1776 to 2026.

The reverse carries the Presidential Seal, originally sculpted by former chief engraver Frank Gasparro, with the numeral 250 added to the eagle's shield to mark the country's 250th anniversary.

There is one precedent for this initiative, though an imperfect one.

Calvin Coolidge appeared alongside George Washington on a 1926 half dollar marking 150 years of independence, making him the first living president on American coinage.

However, that was a commemorative issue rather than a coin intended for daily use. The legal basis for placing a Trump coin in circulation has been contested.

US law generally bars portraits of living people from coins, and the administration has relied on the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, signed by Trump during his first term, which permits $1 coins bearing designs emblematic of the anniversary throughout 2026.

The design process also drew criticism.

The US Commission of Fine Arts had recommended a profile portrait and a different eagle design, neither of which was adopted, while the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, which normally reviews Mint designs, declined to consider it.