You’ve probably heard about the Trump commemorative coin, minted to honor the nation’s 250th anniversary but actually commemorating Donald Trump. It might be the most fitting and lasting legacy of his odious reign.
More than one wag has noted that the face reads “Liberty 1776-2026,” which makes it look like America’s tombstone, which in a way it is. It’s gold-colored, of course, and just like everything Trump gilds, it contains no gold. It’s made of 88.5% copper, 6% zinc, 3.5% manganese and 2% nickel. And the best part is, its value is pure Trump math.
Though officially a commemorative, the coin has a face value of $1, the same as the Sacagawea and the American presidents series dollar coins. Those coins cost … duh, $1 apiece. Not so Trump dollars. The U.S. Mint is selling a roll of 25 Trump dollars for $61. That means each Trump dollar will set you back $2.44. Or you can buy in bulk and save. A bag of 100 is just $154.50. As a writer for the Guardian put it,
Americans will be able to honor 250 years of great American heritage by buying a questionably legal one-dollar coin for roughly $2.44. If you’d like to know who came up with such a brilliant plan, just look at the coin.
So don’t expect to see many in circulation, unless MAGAts are even worse at math that I thought. Their real value is on the collectible market, where they’re selling for roughly the same price the mint is charging.
Though there’s a law or something about living persons appearing on currency, this isn’t the first time a sitting president has appeared on a commemorative coin. In 1926, to mark the Sesquicentennial, the Mint issued one with a profile of George Washington overlapping a profile of Calvin Coolidge. It had a face value of 50 cents but sold for $1, yet most entered circulation after the Great Depression made people desperate. A circulated coin is worth about $40 today; it contains about $24 worth of silver.
I find it fitting that Trump shares this honor with a guy he surpassed in the Worst President Ever Sweepstakes. Sadly, there’s one thing they don’t have in common. The taciturn Coolidge was known as “Silent Cal.” Trump never shuts up.
The Stone Roses didn’t last long, and they barely dented the American market, but were a much bigger deal in England. They were in the vanguard of the Madchester scene of the late ’80s/early ’90s, the precursor of the Britpop sound that brought us Oasis. Critics there consider their eponymous debut LP, released in 1989, one of the best albums of the era.
“Fools Gold” was available only as a single in Britain, where it reached No. 8, and was wedged onto the U.S. edition of the LP. Frontman Ian Brown said the lyrics were inspired by “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” the classic John Huston film about the corrosive nature of greed. That fits Trump to a T.
