The Trump gold coin is not normal
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 23 March 2026
⏱️ 7 minutes
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Summary
On one side, an eagle in flight – on the other, a portrait of President Trump, staring directly at the viewer.
Federal law prohibits living people from being featured on U.S. coins – though the Trump administration believes the Treasury Department has authority here.
Moreover, it breaks a norm that dates to the beginning of the country.
Caroline Turco, a curator at the Money Museum of the American Numismatic Association, explains.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | If you walk around Washington, it can feel like you are running into President Trump every time you turn the corner. |
| 0:07.4 | Looked up and there it said, Donald J. Trump on the building. |
| 0:10.8 | That was Trump last month at the newly renamed Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. |
| 0:15.8 | I had nothing to do with it. I swear I didn't. I swear I had no idea. |
| 0:20.5 | He also claimed he was surprised when his name |
| 0:22.6 | was added to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where he is chairman of the board of |
| 0:27.1 | trustees. Giant portraits of him hang from the headquarters of the Department of Labor and the |
| 0:32.9 | Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice. Ruth Ben-Giatt, a professor of history, told NPR that what Trump is doing mirrors what |
| 0:41.7 | autocrats have done for a century. |
| 0:43.9 | The leader must be everywhere. |
| 0:46.2 | His face must be everywhere. |
| 0:48.4 | His name must be everywhere. |
| 0:49.9 | And his aesthetic, his taste, must be reflected in buildings, in the people around him. |
| 0:59.2 | Last week, a much smaller tribute to Trump made news. |
| 1:02.8 | Final case, submitted to vote for review by the United States. |
| 1:05.6 | The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts voted to approve the design for a new commemorative coin. |
| 1:10.4 | The obverse features a portrait of President Trump. |
| 1:12.9 | Reverse consists of all legal in mid-flight. |
| 1:17.1 | Consider this. President Trump's likeness may soon be on a U.S. coin. |
| 1:21.5 | It is another sharp break with American tradition. |
| 1:29.6 | From NPR, I'm Scott Detrow. |
| 1:35.1 | It's considered this from NPR. |
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