Overview
- Treasury circulated and publicly displayed a Bureau of Engraving and Printing mock-up of a proposed $250 commemorative note bearing President Trump, but no production has begun.
- Federal law from 1866 bars living people from appearing on U.S. currency, so Congress would have to pass specific authorization to permit the president’s likeness on a note.
- BEP staff warned that introducing a new denomination requires years of security testing, ATM and cash‑handling compatibility checks, and multiple federal approvals, and the bureau’s director was reassigned after raising objections.
- Two separate organizations are organizing semiquincentennial events: Freedom 250, created by executive order, and America 250, a congressional bipartisan committee, and lawmakers dispute how about $150 million in federal funds are being used.
- Historically, denominations above $100 were phased out of public use in 1969, so a $250 note would be the highest U.S. denomination issued and would raise legal, logistical, and political hurdles before it could circulate.