A 24-karat gold commemorative coin bearing President Donald Trump’s likeness will not be ready in time for the nation’s 250th anniversary on July Fourth, the U.S. Mint disclosed in a federal court filing that also confirmed that only 47 of the coins are planned.
April Stafford, director of the Mint’s Office of Design Management, wrote that the agency is still in the design stage of the coin and there is no official on-sale date.
While the coin will be struck in connection with the Semiquincentennial, that date “is not the target date for issuance,” she said in the May 18 filing. Stafford added that the Treasury Department remains in consultations on the design and that changes may still be requested.
Once a final design is approved, the Mint estimates that six to eight weeks will elapse before striking begins, and production will then take several months. Each of the 47 coins is expected to contain roughly $90,000 worth of gold.
The filing came in response to a lawsuit brought by James M. Rickher, a retired Portland lawyer and coin collector who is representing himself.
Rickher petitioned the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon on March 24 to block the coin, arguing it would violate 31 U.S.C. Section 5114, which permits only the portrait of a deceased person on U.S. currency.
