The U.S. Mint’s new gold-colored $1 coins featuring President Donald Trump sold out within hours.
Who’s Getting Paid?
The coins went on sale Sept. 2 at noon Eastern Time as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary, or semiquincentennial, celebrations. A roll of 25 coins was priced at $61, while a 100-coin bag cost $154.50. That means buyers paid about $2.44 per coin for the rolls and $1.55 each for the bags, even though each coin carries a $1 face value. The coins can legally be spent for $1.
The U.S. Mint said the coins are legal tender but are being promoted primarily as collectibles.
The obverse features Trump’s likeness along with the inscriptions “Liberty,” “In God We Trust” and “1776 ~ 2026.” The reverse displays the presidential seal and the number “250,” commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States.
The coins are gold-colored but contain no actual gold. They are made primarily of copper, along with zinc, manganese, and nickel.
It seems there was high demand for the coins. According to The Hill, visitors to the Mint’s website encountered a virtual waiting room because of what the agency described as unusually high traffic. By the afternoon of the first day of the offer, the Mint’s website listed the 25-coin rolls as on backorder and the 100-coin bags as unavailable.
The Mint limited production available for the initial offering to 150,000 rolls and 50,000 bags, with a household purchase limit of two per product.
Federal law generally restricts presidential coin portraits to deceased presidents, but the Trump administration has argued that the coin is authorized under legislation permitting special designs commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The coins also include a special feature for collectors. The Mint said 250,000 coins with a “July 4” privy mark will be randomly distributed among the rolls and bags, indicating they were struck on Independence Day.
