Trump's golden $1 coin with his face now in circulation

The U.S. Mint announced Wednesday that $1 coins featuring President Donald Trump's likeness have entered circulation and can be purchased on its website -- a historic and controversial move for a living president that has not been done in 100 years.

In addition to the president's portrait, the U.S. Mint said the coins commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, with inscriptions "1776 ~ 2026," "LIBERTY" and "IN GOD WE TRUST."

The rolls of $1 coins (25 to a roll) go for $61. A bag of 100 coins goes for $154.50, according to the Mint's website. The coins can be used as legal tender.

"These coins are also in circulation, so check your pocket change. Collect them today!" the U.S. Mint wrote in a social media post Wednesday.

The coins are not real gold, but feature a gold-colored finish made of manganese brass. They were produced at the Philadelphia Mint, according to the Mint. It's not clear how many coins were produced.

The Mint said 250,000 of the coins have a special "July 4th" markings, which were randomly included in the rolls and bags, and were struck on July Fourth at the Philadelphia Mint, according to the Mint's website.

While living presidents are generally barred from appearing on U.S. currency, the Trump administration has argued that the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 permits the design because it authorizes the Treasury secretary to oversee the minting of special coins for the nation's Semiquincentennial. And while the same law bars any person from appearing on the tail side of a coin, the restriction doesn't apply to its face -- which is where Trump's likeness appears on the new $1 coin.

The last and only time a living president was featured on hard currency struck by the U.S. Mint was a century ago for the U.S. Sesquicentennial. The silver half-dollar coin featured then-President Calvin Coolidge silhouetted behind the bust of President George Washington. At the time, the Mint produced a million of the coins with 860,000 of them ultimately returned and melted due to low demand.

The legality of the Trump coin's production has come into question after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent failed to have the coin reviewed by the bipartisan Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, an 11-person body established by Congress to advise the secretary on designs of hard currency, according to members of the committee.

The Treasury pushed back on the criticism, saying that it offered the committee "multiple reasonable opportunities to review proposed designs" but that it declined.

"Accordingly, the Mint’s statutory obligation to seek CCAC review has been fulfilled," U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach wrote in a statement in March, adding that Bessent has "sole discretion on final design selection."

There is currently a household order limit of two items that will remain in place until 2 p.m. ET on Sept. 3, according to the U.S. Mint.