I find it unintentionally funny that it says “liberty 1776-2026” implying that 2026 marks the death of liberty, and seemingly attributes this to Turnip.
RIP
The Trump dollar coins are officially in people’s hands. They aren’t in regular distribution. You have to pay at least 54% more than the face value to get them from the US Mint and you can’t buy them in quantities of less than 25.
If you see one in real life you should know the following:
- whoever originally got it from the Mint paid more than the face value / spending power of the coin to get it.
- the existence of this coin is a violation of federal law. 31 U.S. Code 5114-b states only deceased people can be on US currency.
- they used his mugshot image as the base for the portrait. Making this illegal coin doubly symbolic.
- it is a federal crime to deface or destroy legal US currency. This is legal US currency. You can trade the coin for other US currency of equal face value at any federal reserve bank. AKA any bank. They are all federal reserve banks.
Illegal coins usually get recalled at some point in the future making the surviving coins valuable. But in this case if your kids are cleaning out your possessions after you die and find this coin it will cause the same kinds of feelings as finding Nazi or Confederate currency. “Was Dad a Trump sympathizer? Let’s not tell anyone about this. Maybe we can sell it at a coin shop.” The coin dealer says “I can’t give those away. Too toxic. I can’t even display them without customers walking out.”
You can trade the coin for other US currency of equal face value at any federal reserve bank. AKA any bank. They are all federal reserve banks.
Yes and no.
It is correct that you can trade the coin at any US bank.
It is not correct that all banks are Federal Reserve Banks. This is a misconception. There are twelve Federal Reserve Banks, and they do not have tellers. You cannot walk into one to conduct financial transactions. They essentially provide charters that all US bankd and credit unions use - all US banks and credit unions are chartered under the Federal Reserve system.
So ultimately, it doesn’t make much of a difference. They do say you can exchange at a “Federal Reserve bank” and what they mean is “a bank with a charter” which is any bank. So they are phrasing it poorly.
It’s a crime to deface currency in order to change its value. You can write messages on a dollar bill, you just can’t try to make it look like it’s more than a dollar.
So putting Trump’s face on a coin is illegal, because it drops the value tremendously.
Yep. I made jewelry out of coins for decades and had to explain that often - it’s not illegal unless you intend to present it as some currency it’s not originally. Like you have to intend to do some fraud. Just decorating or transforming coins or paper currency alone won’t get you jailed or fined, unless they’ve recently passed some new draconian laws. Which I wouldn’t be shocked by.
only deceased people can be on US currency
Well it’s never too late for that
The coins are already made, so i think it’s easier to unmake him
So, don’t use a punch and a hammer on the eyes of this coin. Don’t carve the face into an “OBEY” skull. Those are illegal, like the coin.
Definitely don’t drill a hole in the ear
A real jagged and gnarly one? Thank you. I will not.
the existence of this coin is a violation of federal law. 31 U.S. Code 5114-b states only deceased people can be on US currency.
This one is false. That applies to paper currency. The legislation passed in 2021 (Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020) that amended the laws on coinage prohibits depictions of living people on the reverse of coins.
‘(aa) STANDARDS AND GENERAL PROVISIONS FOR CIRCULATING COLLECTIBLE COINS UNDER SUBSECTIONS (X), (Y), AND (Z).— ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN REPRESENTATIONS.—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 any coin under subsections (x), (y), and (z).
This is why they changed the design from what it initially was. The obverse side was Trumps inauguration portrait, and the reverse side was originally the photo from his assassination attempt, with his fist raised. That was illegal, so they changed the reverse to the presidential seal.
It’s also generally allowed to put living people on commemorative coins like this so long as they are not entering into circulation directly, which has happened 5 times previously.
Coins that had depictions of living people on them were the 1921 Alabama Centennial Half Dollar which featured sitting Alabama Governor Thomas Kilby, the 1926 Sesquicentennial Half Dollar which featured sitting President Calvin Coolige, the 1936 Lynchburg Sesquicentennial half dollar which featured sitting US Senator Carter Glass (who himself proposed the legislation for the coin lol), the 1936 Arkansas–Robinson half dollar which featured sitting US Senator Joseph Taylor Robinson, and the 1995 Special Olympics World Games silver dollar which featured Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
Now, there is a 2005 law for the Presidential gold dollar coin set that entered circulation that forbids a living president from being included on coins in that series, which is why they did this one as a semi quincentennial specific commemorative coin and did not put it into circulation.
they used his mugshot image as the base for the portrait. Making this illegal coin doubly symbolic
The actual base for the portrait was his official 2025 inaugural portrait, taken by Daniel Torok. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_portraits_of_Donald_Trump#/media/File:January_2025_Official_Presidential_Portrait_of_Donald_J._Trump.jpg
That portrait was inspired by his mugshot though.
You have to pay at least 54% more than the face value to get them from the US Mint and you can’t buy them in quantities of less than 25.
This is generally how commemorative coins from the Mint are. They’re collector items.
This is legal us tender. You can call it a commemorative coin all you want but that doesn’t change anything.
The reverse coin part doesn’t make a difference. There is a clear heads and tails on this coin and swapping the designation of which side is which does not change that.
The reverse coin part doesn’t make a difference.
By law, it literally does.
There is a clear heads and tails on this coin and swapping the designation of which side is which does not change that.
Yes, and the tails side is the REVERSE of the coin, where images of living people are explicitly banned. Living people are ALLOWED on the obverse side, which IS the heads side.
If all you have to do to make something illegal legal is just reverse the assignment of front and back then that is just cheating. What else should redefine? Trump forcing the government into partial ownership of companies isn’t fascism or socialism, it’s sparkling populism.
Where are you getting reversing the assignment of front and back??
Are you trying to say that his face is actually on the back of the coin or something?
In both designs, his inauguration portrait was the face. The previous design also had him on the tails side, which was illegal, which is why they changed it to the presidential seal.
Living people are allowed on the front of coins. This has happened other times already as well. They are not allowed on the back of coins.
what is it with that look, that facial expression? Are we just documenting his progress in dementia?
Someone else said it before, but fascists love sinister portraits of themselves. Face down, brow straight or furrowed, lips pursed, a look of “severe determination.”
(I can’t find this one without horrible watermarks, at least not quickly.)
Trump hated his official presidential portrait painting because it did not look like this.
smh. Those fascists just weren’t raised right, I reckon.
Edited.
They admitted that they tried to find a non-watermark photo. So it’s not that they weren’t raised right. They were just lazy. And that’s okay.
allow me to clarify.
You ruined my joke. But I forgive you.
Oops!
Also why Elmo wanted to delete this image (he then reposted this Reddit post and tried to play it off):
and Hitler hated his photoshoot in bavarian fashion: 
thicker hair, some subtle cheekbone lift, tapered neck…
mugshot fantasy coin has some artistic licenses applied to it.
