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Monday Morning Brief for Dec. 22, 2025: An Open Letter
- Published: Dec 22, 2025, 7 AM
Coin World has received a copy of a letter mailed to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from Dennis Tucker, former Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee member. The text of the letter, which also appears in the January 2026 issue of Coin World, appears below.
The Honorable Mr. Scott Bessent
Secretary, Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington DC 20220
December 12, 2025
Dear Mr. Bessent:
I’m writing as a longtime numismatist, a businessman, a former numismatic specialist on the Treasury Department’s Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, and a concerned American.
I’d like to dissuade you from pursuing the recently proposed Semiquincentennial dollar coin. I think it would damage President Trump’s legacy and would expose the Administration to widespread bipartisan criticism, with little to gain.
A circulating dollar coin with a living president violates the ideals, traditions, and history of our Republic. Going back to the Revolutionary War, Americans have been strongly against showing current presidents on our circulating coins, because that’s what kings do, not free nations, and we fought the Revolution to oppose monarchy.
President Trump already has a strong numismatic legacy. We don’t need to challenge the nation’s traditions and culture to try to strengthen it; in fact, doing so jeopardizes his legacy.
Opening the door to coins with living presidents raises the specter of a Barack Obama dollar, a Bill Clinton dollar, or a coin featuring whomever is the next Democratic president.
Even if it were minted, Americans have shown we have no appetite for using dollar coins in commerce. Millions of dollar coins sit in Treasury storage, unwanted and unused. Creating more would be seen as a boondoggle, a vanity project, an unwise business decision, and a waste of public resources.
Protecting President Trump’s strong numismatic legacy
I had the honor of serving on the CCAC during President Trump’s first administration, under Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
At the moment, President Trump’s numismatic legacy is solid. Its components will be studied by coin collectors and historians and will be admired for generations. Because of the public distaste for having a living American president on a circulating coin — and the amount of criticism it would cause among collectors and the general public — putting his portrait on the dollar risks destroying that important legacy.
Some thoughts on the President’s numismatic influence:
The commemorative coins issued during President Trump’s first administration are among the most historically significant and artistically impressive in our nation’s history. These include the National Park Service Centennial silver dollar and $5 gold coin; the silver dollar honoring 100 years of Lions Club International service; the award-winning Boys Town Centennial coins; the outstanding World War I Centennial silver dollars and medals; the important Breast Cancer Awareness three-coin set; the record-breaking Apollo 11 Fiftieth Anniversary coins; the remarkable American Legion 100th Anniversary coins; the three-coin program for the national Basketball Hall of Fame; and the silver dollar for the centennial of Women’s Suffrage.
The commemorative coin programs that President Trump signed into law during his first presidency, and that were minted between his administrations, likewise include some of the most important in our nation’s coinage history. These include the Christa McAuliffe commemorative silver dollar, the National Law Enforcement commemoratives, the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor coins, and the Negro Leagues Baseball coins.
As one of the last acts of his first administration, President Trump signed into law one of the most successful and patriotic new coinage programs in modern history: the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020. This includes several of the most exciting coin and medal programs and designs of modern times. President Trump will preside over the nation’s 2026 Semiquincentennial celebrations, including the introduction of beautiful new dimes, quarters, and half dollars.
Following that, the upcoming Youth Sports quarters, which will run to 2032, will be hugely popular. The quarter dollar is the workhorse of American coinage, and these coins will be minted in the billions. They will be seen and spent by Americans every day. They will be especially popular with young Americans and athletes — an inspiring and lasting tribute to the president’s vision.
Beyond coinage, President Trump has already been honored in one of the greatest American medal programs, that of our historic Presidential medals. This is a collection crafted and produced by the United States Mint to honor chief executives since George Washington.
On his first-term Presidential medal, President Trump’s portrait is strong, forceful, and forward-looking. On the back of the medal is an uplifting quote from the President that captures the popular spirit and promise of his bold leadership: “The forgotten men and women of our country will not be forgotten again.”
This is one of the most successful Presidential medals of the modern era because of the strength of its messaging and the excellent artistry of the portrait and overall design.
Looking ahead: For his historic second term, President Trump will earn a second Presidential medal — an honor not achieved by Joe Biden, George Bush Sr., Jimmy Carter, and many other modern presidents. His second medal will be just as outstanding as his first, an heirloom collectible that generations will cherish and proudly display.
All of the numismatic accomplishments and innovations described above are at risk of being lost in the noise created by an unpopular coin like a circulating dollar featuring the portrait of a living president.
The historical argument
George Washington is universally acclaimed as the hero of the American Revolution and Father of Our Country. After defeating King George III, the young United States created its own coins, as a show of sovereignty and equal standing among the nations of the world. We might expect President Washington to be proudly displayed on our early money. But our Founding Fathers were against the idea of putting their respected leader on a circulating coin. That kind of glorification was the practice of kings and emperors — not of presidents duly elected by their fellow citizens. George Washington firmly refused any such honor.
After the Civil War, in 1866, we codified the public sentiment into federal law prohibiting portraits of living people on United States currency and securities. For more than one hundred years after Washington’s death in 1799, no presidents appeared on American coins used in commerce. It wasn’t until 1909 that we finally depicted a president on a circulating coin — President Abraham Lincoln, who had been dead more than forty years.
The sentiment against honoring living Americans (presidential or not) on everyday pocket change continues to be strongly held, by coin collectors and non-collectors alike. The idea is seen as un-American and unpatriotic. We do not conflate our national image with the image of any one living man.
Even as popular as President Trump is with a large segment of America, a circulating coin featuring his portrait would be a lightning-rod for criticism from all walks of our nation’s life, including many of us who have voted for him, are grateful for his unique strengths, and continue to otherwise support him.
The precedent argument
National politics is famously cyclical. Today a strong, productive, and beloved Republican president sits in the Oval Office. But in time, as the pendulum inevitably swings, a president equally acclaimed by Democrats will occupy the White House. A Donald Trump circulating coin today would give way to a Gavin Newsom or Andy Beshear coin tomorrow, or an AOC quarter dollar, or any number of other coins that would further inflame our cultural distaste for living politicians on American money.
The best way to combat this risk is to maintain our centuries-old tradition — by leaving presidents and politicians off our coinage during their lifetimes.
Lack of demand
Modern dollar coins have never been popular in day-to-day commerce. The Susan B. Anthony dollar, the Sacagawea dollar, the Native American dollars, the Presidential dollars — none of them have circulated widely as everyday spending money.
As you know, hundreds of millions of Presidential dollars sit in government storage. In 2012, the Mint stopped producing them for circulation — because Americans don’t spend them and it made no business sense to continue. In 2016, numismatic historian Q. David Bowers wrote, “Although well over 800 million circulation strikes of Presidential dollars were made in 2007, few circulated. Most remained stored in Treasury vaults.... Presidential dollars continued to pile up.... The numismatic press often ridiculed the quantities made ... In 2009, mintages declined further, but still hundreds of millions were made, only to go into storage.”
In December 2011, unable to ignore the lack of demand, the Treasury Department issued a directive suspending production of Presidential dollars for circulation. This was projected to save $50 to $75 million annually in production costs. At the time, Federal Reserve Banks and Treasury facilities held in storage 1.4 billion excess Presidential dollar coins.
Any businessman would look at the numbers and come to the conclusion that production of a new dollar coin for circulation fails the well-established test of supply and demand.
In closing: Secretary Bessent, I urge you to embrace President Trump’s already impressive numismatic legacy, give weight to our nation’s traditions, and embrace common-sense business practice, by not pursuing the proposed dollar coin.
Sincerely,
Dennis Tucker
Numismatic specialist, Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, retired (2016–2024)
Community Comments
Monday Morning Brief for Dec. 22, 2025: An Open Letter
- Published: Dec 22, 2025, 7 AM
Coin World has received a copy of a letter mailed to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from Dennis Tucker, former Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee member. The text of the letter, which also appears in the January 2026 issue of Coin World, appears below.
The Honorable Mr. Scott Bessent
Secretary, Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington DC 20220
December 12, 2025
Dear Mr. Bessent:
I’m writing as a longtime numismatist, a businessman, a former numismatic specialist on the Treasury Department’s Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, and a concerned American.
I’d like to dissuade you from pursuing the recently proposed Semiquincentennial dollar coin. I think it would damage President Trump’s legacy and would expose the Administration to widespread bipartisan criticism, with little to gain.
A circulating dollar coin with a living president violates the ideals, traditions, and history of our Republic. Going back to the Revolutionary War, Americans have been strongly against showing current presidents on our circulating coins, because that’s what kings do, not free nations, and we fought the Revolution to oppose monarchy.
President Trump already has a strong numismatic legacy. We don’t need to challenge the nation’s traditions and culture to try to strengthen it; in fact, doing so jeopardizes his legacy.
Opening the door to coins with living presidents raises the specter of a Barack Obama dollar, a Bill Clinton dollar, or a coin featuring whomever is the next Democratic president.
Even if it were minted, Americans have shown we have no appetite for using dollar coins in commerce. Millions of dollar coins sit in Treasury storage, unwanted and unused. Creating more would be seen as a boondoggle, a vanity project, an unwise business decision, and a waste of public resources.
Protecting President Trump’s strong numismatic legacy
I had the honor of serving on the CCAC during President Trump’s first administration, under Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
At the moment, President Trump’s numismatic legacy is solid. Its components will be studied by coin collectors and historians and will be admired for generations. Because of the public distaste for having a living American president on a circulating coin — and the amount of criticism it would cause among collectors and the general public — putting his portrait on the dollar risks destroying that important legacy.
Some thoughts on the President’s numismatic influence:
The commemorative coins issued during President Trump’s first administration are among the most historically significant and artistically impressive in our nation’s history. These include the National Park Service Centennial silver dollar and $5 gold coin; the silver dollar honoring 100 years of Lions Club International service; the award-winning Boys Town Centennial coins; the outstanding World War I Centennial silver dollars and medals; the important Breast Cancer Awareness three-coin set; the record-breaking Apollo 11 Fiftieth Anniversary coins; the remarkable American Legion 100th Anniversary coins; the three-coin program for the national Basketball Hall of Fame; and the silver dollar for the centennial of Women’s Suffrage.
The commemorative coin programs that President Trump signed into law during his first presidency, and that were minted between his administrations, likewise include some of the most important in our nation’s coinage history. These include the Christa McAuliffe commemorative silver dollar, the National Law Enforcement commemoratives, the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor coins, and the Negro Leagues Baseball coins.
As one of the last acts of his first administration, President Trump signed into law one of the most successful and patriotic new coinage programs in modern history: the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020. This includes several of the most exciting coin and medal programs and designs of modern times. President Trump will preside over the nation’s 2026 Semiquincentennial celebrations, including the introduction of beautiful new dimes, quarters, and half dollars.
Following that, the upcoming Youth Sports quarters, which will run to 2032, will be hugely popular. The quarter dollar is the workhorse of American coinage, and these coins will be minted in the billions. They will be seen and spent by Americans every day. They will be especially popular with young Americans and athletes — an inspiring and lasting tribute to the president’s vision.
Beyond coinage, President Trump has already been honored in one of the greatest American medal programs, that of our historic Presidential medals. This is a collection crafted and produced by the United States Mint to honor chief executives since George Washington.
On his first-term Presidential medal, President Trump’s portrait is strong, forceful, and forward-looking. On the back of the medal is an uplifting quote from the President that captures the popular spirit and promise of his bold leadership: “The forgotten men and women of our country will not be forgotten again.”
This is one of the most successful Presidential medals of the modern era because of the strength of its messaging and the excellent artistry of the portrait and overall design.
Looking ahead: For his historic second term, President Trump will earn a second Presidential medal — an honor not achieved by Joe Biden, George Bush Sr., Jimmy Carter, and many other modern presidents. His second medal will be just as outstanding as his first, an heirloom collectible that generations will cherish and proudly display.
All of the numismatic accomplishments and innovations described above are at risk of being lost in the noise created by an unpopular coin like a circulating dollar featuring the portrait of a living president.
The historical argument
George Washington is universally acclaimed as the hero of the American Revolution and Father of Our Country. After defeating King George III, the young United States created its own coins, as a show of sovereignty and equal standing among the nations of the world. We might expect President Washington to be proudly displayed on our early money. But our Founding Fathers were against the idea of putting their respected leader on a circulating coin. That kind of glorification was the practice of kings and emperors — not of presidents duly elected by their fellow citizens. George Washington firmly refused any such honor.
After the Civil War, in 1866, we codified the public sentiment into federal law prohibiting portraits of living people on United States currency and securities. For more than one hundred years after Washington’s death in 1799, no presidents appeared on American coins used in commerce. It wasn’t until 1909 that we finally depicted a president on a circulating coin — President Abraham Lincoln, who had been dead more than forty years.
The sentiment against honoring living Americans (presidential or not) on everyday pocket change continues to be strongly held, by coin collectors and non-collectors alike. The idea is seen as un-American and unpatriotic. We do not conflate our national image with the image of any one living man.
Even as popular as President Trump is with a large segment of America, a circulating coin featuring his portrait would be a lightning-rod for criticism from all walks of our nation’s life, including many of us who have voted for him, are grateful for his unique strengths, and continue to otherwise support him.
The precedent argument
National politics is famously cyclical. Today a strong, productive, and beloved Republican president sits in the Oval Office. But in time, as the pendulum inevitably swings, a president equally acclaimed by Democrats will occupy the White House. A Donald Trump circulating coin today would give way to a Gavin Newsom or Andy Beshear coin tomorrow, or an AOC quarter dollar, or any number of other coins that would further inflame our cultural distaste for living politicians on American money.
The best way to combat this risk is to maintain our centuries-old tradition — by leaving presidents and politicians off our coinage during their lifetimes.
Lack of demand
Modern dollar coins have never been popular in day-to-day commerce. The Susan B. Anthony dollar, the Sacagawea dollar, the Native American dollars, the Presidential dollars — none of them have circulated widely as everyday spending money.
As you know, hundreds of millions of Presidential dollars sit in government storage. In 2012, the Mint stopped producing them for circulation — because Americans don’t spend them and it made no business sense to continue. In 2016, numismatic historian Q. David Bowers wrote, “Although well over 800 million circulation strikes of Presidential dollars were made in 2007, few circulated. Most remained stored in Treasury vaults.... Presidential dollars continued to pile up.... The numismatic press often ridiculed the quantities made ... In 2009, mintages declined further, but still hundreds of millions were made, only to go into storage.”
In December 2011, unable to ignore the lack of demand, the Treasury Department issued a directive suspending production of Presidential dollars for circulation. This was projected to save $50 to $75 million annually in production costs. At the time, Federal Reserve Banks and Treasury facilities held in storage 1.4 billion excess Presidential dollar coins.
Any businessman would look at the numbers and come to the conclusion that production of a new dollar coin for circulation fails the well-established test of supply and demand.
In closing: Secretary Bessent, I urge you to embrace President Trump’s already impressive numismatic legacy, give weight to our nation’s traditions, and embrace common-sense business practice, by not pursuing the proposed dollar coin.
Sincerely,
Dennis Tucker
Numismatic specialist, Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, retired (2016–2024)