PoliticsDonald Trump $1 Coin Roasted by Critics Over 'Death of Liberty' Date Gaffe
Donald Trump’s commemorative $1 coin drew mockery over its ‘1776–2026’ date range.
Sept. 6 2026, Published 7:48 a.m. ET
President Donald Trump’s new $1 coin was supposed to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. Critics think it accidentally gave the country an expiration date.
The U.S. Mint began selling rolls and bags of commemorative coins bearing Trump’s face this week, but the design quickly drew ridicule for placing “LIBERTY” above Trump’s portrait, with “1776 - 2026” printed below.
Critics joked that the coin appeared to give liberty an expiration date.
“I like that this design appears to show the birth date of liberty as 1776, and its death as 2026,” The Bulwark economics commentator Catherine Rampell joked on X.
A Pricey $1 Coin
Collectors faced steep prices for rolls and bags of the commemorative coins.
The coins are not exactly being sold for pocket change.
Collectors can buy a 25-coin roll for $61 or a 100-coin bag for $154.50, a steep markup that also drew mockery online.
That the coins are made from zinc, manganese, nickel and copper, despite being promoted as “gold” in appearance. The reverse side features an eagle holding an olive branch and arrows, along with “E Pluribus Unum” and a shield marked “250.”
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How Donald Trump Got on Currency
The Donald Trump coin reignited debate over living presidents appearing on U.S. currency.
The coin has also revived questions about whether a sitting president should appear on U.S. money.
Federal law generally limits portraits on U.S. currency to deceased individuals, a rule meant to avoid the monarchist tradition of placing living leaders on coins. But Trump administration officials have argued that the commemorative coin is allowed under a 2020 law authorizing $1 coins for the country’s 250th anniversary.
Officials have also pointed to President Calvin Coolidge appearing on a coin for America’s 150th anniversary in 1926.
Democratic lawmakers previously pushed back on the idea, warning that putting Trump’s face on a circulating coin was “un-American.” Sen. Jeff Merkley called the effort one of Trump’s “authoritarian actions” when Democrats introduced legislation last year to block it.
The Trump Branding Push
The release marked another effort to expand Donald Trump’s name and image across public spaces.
The coin arrives amid a broader effort by Trump to leave his name and image on places and things not just in Washington, but across the country.
His face has appeared on banners outside federal buildings, and Republican lawmakers have floated proposals to put him on a $250 bill, replace Benjamin Franklin with him on the $100 bill and add him to Mount Rushmore.
Palm Beach International Airport recently became officially known as President Donald J. Trump International Airport.
After praising the Artemis II crew for naming a moon crater after the late wife of Commander Reid Wiseman, Trump told the crowd, “I wish they’d name something like that after me.”
