A 24-karat gold Trump coin is approved for the U.S. Mint. Here's why that's unusual

NPR | By Scott Detrow,

Connor Donevan, Sami Yenigun, Patrick Jarenwattananon

Published March 23, 2026 at 3:03 PM CDT

The U.S. Mint is set to produce a gold coin featuring an image of President Trump. Caroline Turco, a curator at the Money Museum, says it's a sharp break with tradition that sends a message.

Scott Detrow

Scott Detrow is a White House correspondent for NPR and co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.

Connor Donevan

Sami Yenigun

Sami Yenigun is the Executive Producer of NPR's All Things Considered and the Consider This podcast. Yenigun works with hosts, editors, and producers to plan and execute the editorial vision of NPR's flagship afternoon newsmagazine and evening podcast. He comes to this role after serving as a Supervising Editor on All Things Considered, where he helped launch Consider This and oversaw the growth of the newsmagazine on new platforms.

Patrick Jarenwattananon