The United States Semiquincentennial coinage consists of the coins struck in 2026 in recognition of the 250th anniversary of American independence. It includes cents and nickels of the current series, a dime, five quarters, a half dollar and a one-dollar coin, with all but the cent and nickel bearing commemorative designs. Also being struck are special silver and gold pieces.
Mintage of new coins was authorized by the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, which also authorized the American Women Quarters Program and later planned circulating commemorative programs. The act received unanimous support from both the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives and was signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2021. The Biden administration worked with advisory committees to secure designs with a theme of movement towards a society deemed more inclusive. Thus, its officials sought themes commemorating the civil rights movement and women's suffrage. These, however, were changed following its departure from office in 2025.
The cent, which is not struck for circulation, is only available through sets sold by the United States Mint at a premium. A number of non-circulating legal tender issues have been struck, including reproductions of the 1804 dollar and the 1916 Mercury dime, Standing Liberty quarter and Walking Liberty half dollar. Some bullion coins, includging the American Buffalo gold coin bear the dates 1776~2026 and a commemorative privy mark.
In October and December 2025, proposed designs featuring President Trump for the $1 coin were released. In July, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent announced a final design depicting Trump, which was made available from the Mint on September 2. The plan had sparked controversy and debate over its legality. The issuance of the Trump dollar, which is both to be placed in circulation and sold to collectors, makes him the second U.S. president to appear on a coin during his lifetime, after Calvin Coolidge as part of the United States Sesquicentennial coinage in 1926. A version in gold with a $250 denomination is scheduled to be issued in November 2026.
Preparation During the first Trump administration, Congress passed the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, authorizing special designs for circulating coins between 2022 and 2030, including for the United States Semiquincentennial, to be celebrated in 2026 for the 250th anniversary of American independence. The act, which had been introduced as a bill by Representative Barbara Lee, Democrat of California, on March 27, 2020, authorized a redesign of the six denominations of circulating coins for the Semiquincentennial, including five quarter dollars. The coins were required to be symbolic of the Semiquincentennial, and one of the quarters was to show the contributions of women.
The designs were to be selected by the United States Secretary of the Treasury after consultation with the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) and review by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC).31 United States Code, Section 5112(y)(2)(B) The CFA is authorized to opine on public artworks, including coinage. The CCAC advises the Treasury Secretary, who makes the final decisions on coinage designs, on matters relating to coinage and medals. During the Biden administration, the Mint worked with the CCAC to develop designs and themes for the Semiquincentennial symbolizing movement towards an America deemed more inclusive.
In 2023, the Mint conducted a public survey seeking views on the themes that had been developed, and on how the Founding Fathers and personifications such as Liberty should be depicted. Over a multiyear period, the CCAC consulted historians, political appointees of both major parties, the National Park Service, the Smithsonian and others. It decided the themes for the five quarters should be the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, abolition, suffrage and civil rights.
Initial design recommendations The CFA and CCAC both reviewed proposed designs for the cent and nickel in February 2024. For production reasons, the Mint did not propose a full redesign for either coin, but merely noting the anniversary with a dual date. Both committees supported the use of the dual date "1776~2026". There was some support on each committee for the use of a privy mark of the numbers "250" superimposed on the Liberty Bell.
Thirteen candidate designs for the dime's obverse and eight for the reverse were reviewed by the CCAC and CFA in October 2024, with one depicting Liberty as an African American favored by the CFA and the CCAC choosing one depicting Liberty wearing a Liberty cap. Both committees agreed on elements of the design. The reverse designs chosen by both groups depicted an eagle in flight carrying arrows, with the theme of the dime to be Liberty over Tyranny.
Both CFA and CCAC met in October 2024 to recommend designs for the five quarters. For the Declaration quarter, both groups proposed the same designs: an obverse showing Liberty nurturing a "spark of enlightenment" with a reverse depicting the Liberty Bell, complete with crack, swinging and tolling.
Both groups agreed on an obverse for the Constitution quarter depicting Liberty striding forward with a torch in one hand and a rolled document, representing the Constitution, in the other. They differed on the reverse, with the CFA recommending a design featuring a detail from the chair George Washington sat in as president of the Constitutional Convention, depicting the Sun. The CCAC felt the public would not identify the CFA's favorite, and suggested a design featuring part of Independence Hall, where the convention met. For the Abolitionism quarter, both groups favored the same portrait of Frederick Douglass while choosing different designs showing the breaking of chains.
The Suffrage quarter favored by the CCAC depicts a woman, striding to the left while carrying a banner, Votes for Women. Members chose a reverse featuring a Votes for Women rosette like those often worn by suffragists, though they asked that Mint artists replace the slogan to avoid duplicating it. CFA members recommended the same obverse while favoring a reverse showing a child's hand joining others to uplift a stone foundation inscribed with "Liberty Equality Justice for Women SUFFRAGE". The same Civil Rights quarter design for the obverse was recommended by both groups, showing an African American girl, intended to be Ruby Bridges, facing right and carrying her schoolbooks. On the reverse, different concepts, both featuring people with arms linked and the legend "We Shall Overcome" were chosen by the two groups.
The half dollar design selected by both groups featured the Statue of Liberty on the obverse, with her torch being passed from one generation to the next on the reverse.
This advice was transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury (under Biden, Janet Yellen), for a final decision. According to an unnamed source cited in The Wall Street Journal, Yellen approved designs for the Semiquincentennial coinage before leaving office in January 2025, but no final announcement was made nor were final designs released. Scott Bessent, appointed by President Trump as Treasury Secretary, made final design choices that differed from those recommended by the CCAC and CFA.
Announcement of designs
On December 10, 2025, the Mint announced designs for the 1776~2026 coinage at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. With the striking of circulation cents halted in November 2025, the 1776~2026 cent is not being struck for use in commerce, but only for collectors.
The CCAC was not called upon to review additional designs before the announcement. No member of the CCAC attended the announcement, and the longest-serving member as of then, Donald Scarinci, deemed it "another sad day for America", because coin designs not reviewed by the committee had been approved for the first time since its establishment in 2003. Designs The cent and nickel, as recommended by the CCAC and CFA, were unchanged but for the dual dating. The dime's obverse was a head of Liberty wearing a Liberty cap, with a reverse featuring an eagle. The half dollar depicts the Statue of Liberty, and on its reverse its torch being passed.
One quarter honored the Mayflower Compact, in which each individual agreed to submit to the will of the majority. It featured a man and a woman of the Pilgrims embracing on the obverse, with the reverse depicting the Mayflower. A second marked the American Revolutionary War, with the American commander in chief, George Washington, on the obverse and a Revolutionary War soldier depicted at Valley Forge on the other side. A quarter for the United States Declaration of Independence depicted its author, Thomas Jefferson on the obverse, with the Liberty Bell tolling on the reverse. The United States Constitution quarter design depicts James Madison, deemed its father, on the obverse, and the steeple of Independence Hall, its clocks showing the time 2:50, on the other. The Gettysburg Address quarter design shows Abraham Lincoln, who wrote and delivered the speech, backed with a design showing two hands grasping each other and a quotation from the Gettysburg Address, "a new nation conceived in liberty". The change in themes meant that the Votes for Women designs and those featuring Bridges and Douglass were abandoned.
Several of the quarter designs were taken from or inspired by previous Mint releases. The reverse of the Mayflower Compact quarter was based on the reverse of the Pilgrim Tercentenary half dollar, which was issued in 1920 and 1921. The portrait of Washington on the obverse of the Revolutionary War quarter and the portrait of Madison on the obverse of the Constitution quarter were taken from their respective 2007 Presidential dollar coins. The portrait of Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence quarter was taken from an Indian peace medal designed by early Mint engravers Robert Scot and John Reich.
Reaction Acting Mint director Kristie McNally stated of the December 2025 designs, "the designs on these historic coins depict the story of America’s journey toward a 'more perfect union', and celebrate America’s defining ideals of liberty," According to the Mint, the replacement designs celebrate "American history and the birth of our great nation". United States Treasurer Brandon Beach stated of the design change, "while the Biden administration and Secretary Yellen remained focused on DEI and critical race theory policies, the Trump administration is dedicated to fostering prosperity and patriotism." Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democratic senator from Nevada, regretted the abandonment of the Biden-era designs. "Those designs represented 'continued progress toward 'a more perfect union'. ... The American story didn’t stop at the pilgrims and founding fathers."
The original coin designs, according to Canadian Coin News, "would have gone much further in foregrounding social-justice milestones", and their abandonment provoked debate among coin collectors, officials and the general public. Newsweek called the change, "the latest example of the Trump administration’s broader effort to reshape how American history is officially depicted". The New York Times titled its article on the announcement, "The war on 'wokeness' comes to the U.S. Mint." Quartz suggested that the replacement of the recommended designs, "amounts to a Whiter interpretation of American history over 250 years".
Patrick A. Heller of Numismatic News expressed surprise that the presence of a woman as one of two figures on the obverse of the Mayflower Compact quarter was used to fulfill the statutory requirement that one of the quarters denote the contributions of a woman or women, as only adult men not in servitude drafted and signed the Mayflower Compact.
Trump dollar Development and controversy