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Trump’s Golden Vanity Project to Miss the Mark by Months

The president wanted his tacky commemorative coins to be ready by July 4.

Donald Trump’s planned commemorative coins featuring the president’s own face will not be ready in time for the America250 celebrations, according to a report.

The U.S. Mint revealed in legal documents that Trump’s latest vanity project is still in the design stage, and production of the coins might not be completed until months after July 4, according to Newsweek.

In March, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts voted to approve the design of a 24-karat gold coin featuring the president’s scowling face to mark America’s 250th birthday.

The commemorative coin faced a legal challenge because federal law prohibits a living president from appearing on U.S. currency. The challenge failed because the Trump administration argued that there was precedent, citing a 150th-anniversary coin featuring the image of President Calvin Coolidge.

In the legal filing, April Stafford, director of the Office of Design Management at the U.S. Mint, confirmed that the coin is still going ahead, but that the final design has not yet been approved.

“The Mint is currently in the design stage of a large 24k gold coin depicting President Trump in commemoration of the United States Semiquincentennial,” Stafford wrote.

“There is no official on-sale date for this gold coin. While the coin will be minted in celebration of the Semiquincentennial on July 4, 2026, this is not the target date for issuance.”

Stafford added that she believes the Treasury Department is “still in consultations regarding the design,” and therefore it is “possible that changes may be requested.”

Even after the design has been signed off, it could take up to eight weeks for the Mint to begin striking the coins, with the actual production taking several months, according to Newsweek.

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The legal filings also disclose that only 47 commemorative coins will be made, and each will contain an estimated $90,000 worth of gold.

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The approval of the coin arrived months after Trump fired all six members of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts—an independent federal agency that advises the government for monuments, buildings, and coins—and replaced them with MAGA allies.

The team was reviewing Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom and planned “Arc de Trump” in Washington, D.C., at the time of their removal.

Trump is also planning to issue new U.S. passports featuring his face as part of the America 250 celebrations, and is set to become the first sitting U.S. president to have his signature on banknotes.

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