US arts panel approves gold coin featuring Trump

A US federal arts commission has approved a commemorative 24-karat gold coin featuring President Donald Trump to mark the country's 250th anniversary on July 4, media reports said Thursday.

The coin, presented by the US Mint, depicts Trump with his fists pressed against a desk, according to the BBC.

The US Commission of Fine Arts voted unanimously to approve the design after the presentation.

Federal law does not allow a living president to appear on US currency. However, the coin is being issued under the authority of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has discretion to mint and issue proof gold coins.

Bessent is expected to order production once the US Mint finalizes the coin's dimensions.

"I motion to approve this [coin] as presented, and with the strong encouragement that you make it as large as possible, all the way to three inches in diameter," the BBC quoted commission vice-chair James McCrery as saying.

For comparison, a US quarter dollar is less than one inch wide.

Trump replaced members of the Commission of Fine Arts last year with allies.

A proposed bill titled Trump (The Restrict Ugly Money Portraits) Act, introduced by Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres, seeks to prevent presidents from issuing currency bearing their own likeness, but it has not passed.

Calvin Coolidge remains the only other US president to appear on a coin during his lifetime.