President Donald J. Trump would become the first living American president to have his likeness appear on United States paper money if legislation introduced Feb. 27 in the House were to become law.

Living individuals are currently prohibited from appearing on any U.S. currency, whether coins or notes.

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina, introduced H.R. 1761, the “Donald J. Trump $250 Bill Act,” that calls for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to design and print a legal tender $250 denominated Federal Reserve note that illustrates a visage of the 47th president of the United States. H.R. 1761 seeks to amend the Federal Reserve Act to accommodate the printing.

“It is the sense of Congress that $250 bills with the portrait of Donald J. Trump be printed to commemorate the semiquincentennial of the United States,” according to the H.R. 1761 text.

The language in Wilson’s bill would allow the portrait of living presidents or former presidents to appear on United States currency and securities.

The $100 Federal Reserve note bearing a portrait of American statesman Benjamin Franklin is currently the highest denominated Federal Reserve note printed by the BEP for distribution.

According to the BEP’s published history, 1866 release of the 5-cent note of the second issue of Fractional Currency, featuring the portrait of Spencer Clark (the first Superintendent of the BEP forerunner National Currency Bureau, 1862 to 1868), caused public uproar due to recently publicized allegations of his misconduct.

Exactly what led to Clark’s portrait ending up on the note is somewhat disputed, and he was not the only living individual portrayed on notes at the time, but in 1866, Congress prohibited portraying any living person on currency notes, bonds, or securities.

Clark eventually resigned in 1868 amid congressional investigation of his bookkeeping.

In 1873, driven in large part by the actions of U.S. Treasurer Francis Elias Spinner and Clark, Congress prohibited the use of portraits of living people on any U.S. bond, security, note, or fractional or postal currency.

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