The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced that Donald Trump may tentatively be featured on an upcoming dollar coin, to be released sometime next year. Bipartisan legislation passed by Congress in 2020 created a provision to grant the Treasury Secretary authority to create commemorative coins during 2026 that would be “emblematic of the United States semiquincentennial. Conservative commentator Steve Guest shared concept art for the coin, which features Trump’s profile view on the head side, and his triumphant fist-up pose (which he struck shortly after his assassination attempt during the 2024 presidential campaign) on the tail side. Despite the mixed response from the American public, the department was quick to legitimize the sketches and defend the decision via Twitter: “On this momentous anniversary, there is no profile more emblematic for the front of this coin than that of our serving President, Donald J. Trump.” But what exactly about Trump, if anything, is so representative of the United States, especially considering his selection over a myriad of other significant events within the 250 years of American historical canon?

One of the main reasons the news has been met with alarm and criticism is due to 31 US Code § 5112, which states that “no [$1 commemorative] coin issued… may bear the image of a living former or current President, or of any deceased former President during the 2-year period following the date of the death of that President.” While this clause could seem to have been set in place to prevent a sitting President from getting their ego stroked, another possibility is that this law is meant to prevent the idolatry of the country’s leader, a small but slippery step onto the slope toward authoritarianism.

In many ways, Trump is no stranger to venturing into finances and making himself the currency; the self-proclaimed business mogul-turned-President has made millions from cryptocurrency alone, and has embraced this digital form of investment, CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger says, “to such a degree that cryptocurrency now accounts for most of the president’s wealth on paper, according to a Forbes analysis from June.” We’ve even brought up the golden statue of Trump holding a Bitcoin token that was erected outside of Washington, D.C. — all of this to say, he’s very openly involved in finding ways to make money. While these funds (and those made through domestic and foreign partnerships) are not available to Trump during his presidential term, he still controls them, which leads many critics to argue that this indirect possession is possibly violating the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses. These clauses are some of the oldest safeguards set in place to prevent corruption at the federal level by prohibiting the President and other officials from accepting “any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State” without the consent of Congress. Since his first term in 2017, Trump has not followed his predecessors in voluntarily divesting from their assets and from earning outside income that could be considered to create a conflict of interest. He has always maintained control of his businesses and subsequent assets, which created lawsuits that were ultimately dismissed over differences of interpretation. But whether or not there will be a coin is not as important as questioning why there needs to be one in the first place.