PREV ARTICLE
NEXT ARTICLE
FULL ISSUE
PREV FULL ISSUE
TRUMP $250 BANKNOTE PUSHED AT BEPThe The Washington Post reported this week on a push by Trump administration officials to put the President's portrait on a $250 commemorative note. Here's an excerpt - see the complete article online. Thanks to Paul Horner, Jeff Pritchard and others for passing this along. -Editor 
A mock-up design of a proposed $250 bill Trump administration officials have pressed the office responsible for printing the nation's money to design a $250 bill featuring the president's portrait, according to four current and former employees, in what would be the first appearance of a living person on U.S. currency in more than 150 years. Starting last year, two political appointees at the Treasury Department — U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach and his senior adviser, Mike Brown — repeatedly urged staff at the agency's Bureau of Engraving and Printing to prepare prototypes of the note, according to the employees, who said the move raised concerns because federal law currently allows only deceased people to appear on bills. The artist who said he designed the mock-up told The Post that he had spoken with Trump about it. British painter Iain Alexander said Trump endorsed changes to his original design, such as adding the colors of the American flag and a logo commemorating the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding. No living person has appeared on U.S. currency since 1866, when it was outlawed after the image of a mid-level Treasury bureaucrat showed up on a 5-cent note. Legislation that would allow Trump to appear on a $250 bill was introduced in Congress last year to commemorate the nation's 250th anniversary but has languished. The director of the printing bureau, Patricia "Patty" Solimene, and other staff repeatedly explained to Beach and Brown that there were legal and procedural obstacles to producing the note and that it would take years longer than they envisioned, the four employees said. "She had told them we're not authorized to do this. We can't progress any further, and all the stakeholders have not even met to discuss the next steps," said one of the employees. "Currency often takes six to eight years to produce a new bill, particularly one of such high value." Solimene said she was abruptly reassigned from her post by Treasury management on April 27... The Treasury statement said Beach has "never asked staff to print the bill before congressional passage." The agency declined to comment on Solimene's reassignment. The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Solimene and her staff had consented to another administration request: to print $100 bills featuring Trump's signature, according to the four employees. They said those bills — the first in American history to bear a sitting president's signature — are currently being printed at the bureau's downtown Washington facility. "These guys think you can just print something overnight and it's going to work in an ATM. It's just crazy," said one of the employees. "It takes years and years and years to produce these notes so they are reliable for the public."
To read the complete articles, see:
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: Subscribe All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
|