The Trump $1 coin is no Lincoln penny

This is the tale of two bearers of value, but the values, in its several meanings, could not be more different.

The first bearer of value is the simple penny, or rather the Lincoln cent as it is titled or the Lincoln penny as it is also referred to. The Lincoln cent was first struck and became part of the currency of this country in 1909, the centenary of the birth of President Abraham Lincoln, the man who fought for and achieved the preservation of the Union against the slave states’ treasonous rebellion. He ultimately gave his life for the cause, assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a Southern radical.

President Lincoln was the first president of the modern Republican Party and was revered in life and in death for his contributions to this country. Barely a month goes by without a new book on Lincoln being issued. Multiple sources state that over 16,000 books and articles about Lincoln have been published since his death. One of the best, if we may say with Maryland pride, was written by Diana Schaub, a professor at Loyola of Maryland, His Greatest Speeches: How Lincoln Moved the Nation. A close reading of three of Lincoln’s speeches, it should be read by every lawyer, new to the profession or in the last years before retirement.

The Lincoln cent has been legal tender in this country ever since its issuance and remains so today. The portrait of Lincoln on the cent was designed by the engraver Victor David Brenner, a Jewish immigrant from Lithuania who was born Avigdor David Brenner. We find that particularly fitting: America’s greatest president seen through the eyes of an immigrant from Eastern Europe.

Over the years, the cent became more expensive to produce relative to its value set at 1/100th of a dollar. The composition of the penny changed over the years, but it continued to cost the U.S. Mint more to make than it was worth. Many people argued for its elimination and this year President Donald Trump pulled the plug: No more pennies made, but legal tender it remains.

And here we come to the comparison. The Secretary of the Treasury authorized the issuance of a $1 coin that bears the likeness of Donald Trump even though federal law unequivocally bars the same. The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005, passed to commemorate each former president in order of their service states: “No coin issued under this subsection may bear the image of a living former or current president, or of any deceased former president during the two-year period following the date of the death of that president.”

How do you get around that? Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent asserts that Trump is emblematic of the United States Sesquicentennial and issuance of a $1 coin with his likeness on it is authorized by a more recent statute. Trump is emblematic of Trump, not the United States, much less its 250th anniversary. More to the point, the specific bar trumps (excuse us) any general language later enacted. And the commemorative coin act takes care to identify the classes of individuals who can be honored on coins for the 250th, which include women and American youth. Trump is neither.

The Trump $1 coin is illegal. It is not legal tender. It should not be accepted by a bank or by a lender in payment of a debt. No vending machine operator should modify a machine to accept it. That, of course, could change in the unlikely event that a court would hold otherwise. But we can wait.

Abraham Lincoln won the respect of history. He was honored by his country with a coin only after he had been dead for over 40 years. His memory was rewarded with the humblest currency issued by the nation he preserved, befitting a man of modesty and humble origins, and that honor has continued for over 100 years. Trump has not earned that honor and may never. His turn for a coin with his likeness will come when his position in the queue of dead presidents is reached. He should be pleased enough that his non-consecutive two terms will entitle him to two commemorative $1 coins, but he won’t be around when that happens.

This vanity project is illegal. And obscene. Trump hasn’t earned the honor he has bestowed on himself (remember the unitary executive), and he besmirches himself and his office by crowning himself as if he were Napoleon Bonaparte.

The Treasury Department may call the new coin the Trump $1 Sesquicentennial Commemorative Coin, but to us it is and always will be the Trump slug.

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS

James B. Astrachan, Chair

Gary E. Bair

Jill P. Carter

Arthur F. Fergenson

Nancy Forster

Susan Francis

Julie C. Janofsky

Ericka N. King

George Liebmann

George Nilson

Steven I. Platt

Angela W. Russell

Debra G. Schubert

Jeff Sovern

H. Mark Stichel

The Daily Record Editorial Advisory Board is composed of members of the legal profession who serve voluntarily and are independent of The Daily Record. Through their ongoing exchange of views, members of the board attempt to develop consensus on issues of importance to the bench, bar and public. When their minds meet, unsigned opinions will result. When they differ, or if a conflict exists, majority views and the names of members who do not participate will appear. Members of the community are invited to contribute letters to the editor and/or columns about opinions expressed by the Editorial Advisory Board.