{"id":41334,"date":"2026-07-15T17:09:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T15:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kaizen-blog.org\/?p=41334"},"modified":"2026-07-15T17:09:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T15:09:52","slug":"sein-gesicht-auf-gold-ihre-bruecken-im-schutt-amerika-feiert-250-jahre-freiheit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kaizen-blog.org\/en\/sein-gesicht-auf-gold-ihre-bruecken-im-schutt-amerika-feiert-250-jahre-freiheit\/","title":{"rendered":"His Face on Gold, Their Bridges in Rubble: America Celebrates 250 Years of Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are weeks when a country summarizes its Constitution so perfectly that any commentary becomes unnecessary. This is one of them. On Wednesday morning, the Treasury Department unveiled a new one-dollar gold coin bearing the face of the sitting President. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared that, as America celebrates 250 years of independence, the United States Mint would strike the coin to honor the enduring legacy of liberty and create a lasting symbol of patriotism. Featuring the President's likeness, the coin celebrates the strength of American values and the promise of a nation committed to preserving freedom for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For all. Remember those words. We are going to need them in a moment.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The only thing standing in the way of the coin is federal law, something that has increasingly been treated in Washington as a minor obstacle. Section 5112 of Title 31 of the United States Code states that no coin may bear the image of a living current or former President until at least two years after that President's death. The 2020 Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act further specifies that living individuals may not appear on the reverse side either. The administration sidesteps both provisions by arguing that the very same law authorizes the President to issue commemorative coins for the nation's 250th anniversary. Congress essentially asked only for patience. Patience, however, is apparently no longer among the American values being celebrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former Republican congressman Thomas Massie summed up the situation more concisely than any editorial ever could. We have reached the end stage now, he wrote: first eliminate the penny, then phase out the nickel, and finally mint commemorative gold coins that almost nobody will ever be able to afford. He said he felt sorry for the people who would soon be tricked into buying worthless imitations by the usual scammers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erasmus of Rotterdam wrote half a millennium ago in The Education of a Christian Prince that a ruler is not recognized by the portraits he commissions of himself, but by the condition of the people he governs. Anyone seeking to preserve his legacy in metal has already abandoned it in his deeds. One might dismiss that thought as a product of another age, if it were not for the other story that emerged this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n