The White House official behind the one-dollar Trump coin has a game plan to cement the president’s legacy with an entirely new paper bill.
U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach attracted national attention in October when he unveiled a draft of the upcoming one-dollar coin featuring President Donald Trump, a legal tender expected to be introduced later in 2026 in honor of the United States’ 250th anniversary, but he isn’t stopping there. The chief of U.S. mint production is working behind the scenes to create a $250 bill bearing Trump’s image.
“When Trump appointed me to the job, I told him I wanted to do a $250 bill with his picture on the 250 birthday celebration,” Beach told the Daily Caller News Foundation, adding that this goal would take some finessing given that, under current law, a president must be dead to be featured on paper currency.
“Now we’ve got a bill in the House, but it’s got to be passed by law,” Beach continued. “If it is, then we will do the $250 with his picture on it.”
Not to be confused with the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, the U.S. Treasurer supervises the country’s currency and coinage production, with direct oversight of the U.S. Mint and Fort Knox. Beach served as a Republican member of the Georgia State Senate for over a decade before being appointed by Trump to his current position in May.
Just several months into the job, Beach oversaw a monumental milestone in November with the official end of production of the penny, ceasing a practice that began in 1793. As inflation continued to rise over the years, minting a penny became more costly than it was worth, with Beach declaring its demise would save American taxpayers $56 million annually.
With the official end of the one-cent coin, the U.S. Treasurer set his eyes on other currencies to put into production. In October, he confirmed that designs of a Trump coin were underway.
The first draft featured the president’s side profile on the front with “IN GOD WE TRUST” at the bottom, “LIBERTY” at the top and the dates 1776 and 2026. The back of the coin featured the famous image of Trump raising his first in the aftermath of the Butler, Pennsylvania, assignation attempt, with an American flag waving behind his head and the words “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT” at the top.
However, the final product won’t have Trump’s image featured on both sides, according to Beach.
“I did find out from the U.S. Mint that we could put [Trump] on a $1 coin without any legislation, and there’s no law against it,” Beach told the DCNF. “So I went ahead and did that, and started doing mockups.”
“We’re going to put some kind of eagle or something on the back. He can’t be on both sides,” Beach continued. “He can only be on the front, but it’s going to be a beautiful coin.”
Congress passed the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act in preparation for America’s 250th anniversary celebration, allowing the Department of the Treasury to mint special one-dollar coins commemorating the country’s semiquincentennial on July 4, 2026. Featuring an eagle or any other symbol of Americana on the back side of the coin would satisfy a portion of the law that 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 specified coins.”
“It is going to be legal tender. This is not a commemorative coin,” Beach told the DCNF. “You can go in and buy something with this $1 coin with Trump’s picture on it.”
While Beach is hashing out the final details on the one-dollar coin, he is counting on a Republican member of the House of Representatives to deliver on legislation that would allow for Trump’s face to be featured on a $250 bill.
In February, South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson introduced the “Donald J. Trump $250 Bill Act,” legislation establishing an exemption to the 19th-century law banning living individuals on currency and directing the Bureau of Printing and Engraving to print a $250 bill bearing Trump’s image. A spokesman for Wilson directed the DCNF to previous statements the lawmaker made about the bill.
“Bidenflation has destroyed the economy forcing American families to carry more cash,” Wilson said during the rollout of the bill. “President Trump is working tirelessly to fight inflation and help American families. This achievement is deserving of currency recognition, which is why I am grateful to introduce this legislation.”
Beach confirmed that, if Wilson’s bill passes Congress and is signed into law, he will immediately get to work on the $250 bill, which would become the most valuable currency issued by the U.S. government.
However, the U.S. Treasurer noted that the administration is putting to work other coins that are completely unrelated to Trump’s likeness. Other coins are to be rolled out in commemoration of the country’s 250th celebration and the U.S. Mint is hashing out currency in honor of the 2026 World Cup, the majority of games to be played in major American cities.
“We announced five new coins with the 250th celebration on it — three quarters, a dime and a half-dollar. That’s great news,” Beach said.
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