Out Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent rejected several woke designs for commemorative coins for the nations 250th anniversary next year, choosing instead a set of coins that will mostly honor white men. And now the administration seems poised to issue a coin bearing the face of a current, living president, something usually seen only in monarchies and dictatorships. Related Gay Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is hiding evidence of Jeffrey Epsteins crimes, senator says The Treasury unveiled a set of commemorative coins that will be available next year, mostly for collectors, even though they will be legal tender. The designs for the quarters in the collection were unveiled last week and will feature various presidents on one side and moments in U.S. history on the other: a straight Pilgrim couple and the Mayflower; George Washington and a Revolutionary War soldier; Thomas Jefferson and the Liberty Bell; James Madison and Independence Hall; and Abraham Lincoln and two interlocking hands to represent the Gettysburg Address.The collection will also include a nickel with a new picture of Thomas Jefferson on it and a dime with the only solo woman featured on one of these coins: Liberty herself, along with an eagle on the back, removing Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt from the coin. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The New York Times reports that the designs announced at an event last week were selected by Bessent himself over the recommendations of an 11-member committee of numismatists, historians, and other members of the public. The committees recommendations included designs that portrayed a more colorful and diverse history of the U.S., including one with abolitionist Frederick Douglass to honor the end of slavery, a Suffragette carrying a Votes for Women flag to honor womens rights, and Ruby Bridges, the 6-year-old Black girl who attended a formerly whites-only school, to honor the Civil Rights Movement.This is the first time since the committee was created in 2003 that the U.S. Mint approved designs that were not vetted by it. Members of the committee did not attend the ceremony announcing next years designs. But one coin whose design has not yet been officially announced is the dollar coin. U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach a Trump appointee said earlier this year that the Treasury would mint a dollar coin with Trump on both sides next year. The front would have a portrait of Trump on it, and the back would have a picture inspired by the image of Trump during an assassination attempt last year. The move would end the practice of not putting the current president on currency, something started by George Washington in the 1700s, who rejected a proposal to put his own face on U.S. coins. While monarchs like those of Great Britain are depicted on other countries currency, Washington thought putting his own face on a coin would be too similar to what was the practice in England.CNBC reports that the Treasury still says the design for the dollar coin has not been finalized, but the U.S. Mints webpage about the dollar coin lists only three contenders for the heads side, and all three are pictures of Trump. The six designs shown on that webpage for the tails side are all of eagles. A Mint spokesperson pointed out that there is no law against putting a sitting president on money without commenting on the appropriateness.In Congress, Democrats are trying to pass a law to ban the Treasury from putting Trumps face on the dollar coin. The Change Corruption Act, introduced by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), would ban the U.S. Mint from making any currency with the likeness of a living or sitting President.President Trumps self-celebrating maneuvers are authoritarian actions worthy of dictators like North Koreas Kim Jong Un, not the United States of America,said Merkley in a press release.We must reject his efforts to dismantle our We, The People republic and replace it with a strongman state by demanding strong accountability to prevent further abuse of taxpayer dollars. Since Republicans control both chambers of Congress and Trump himself is president the bill is unlikely to pass. Beach snarked that Democrats were so triggered by the proposed coin celebrating our nations 250th anniversary that they are trying to recklessly change law to block it.The coins are authorized by the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, signed by Trump in January 2021, which mandates the Treasury to create commemorative coins for the nations 250th anniversary. The law mandates five designs for quarters, with the requirement that one of them represent womens contributions to the U.S. That was supposed to be the quarter depicting a Suffragette, but its now the coin with the straight Pilgrim couple.The Mayflower Compact Quarter fulfills this legislative requirement, a Mint official told the Times. The women of the Plymouth colony were essential for the colonys survival by making medicines from native plants, preserving food, and educating children. Its likely the women formed early connections with the Native American Wampanoag community, collecting knowledge about farming and food preparation.Two other coins a penny and a half-dollar will be released only as collectibles.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.