The Virtual Collection separates numismatics — struck coin — from notaphily. In the United States that history begins in Philadelphia: the Coinage Act of 2 April 1792 created the United States Mint while the city was still the federal capital.
This case opens with the manganese-brass dollar module — the same planchet as the Sacagawea and the Presidential dollars — and with the 2026 Semiquincentennial type. The first documented example is the $1 with Donald J. Trump’s portrait, Joseph Menna’s obverse and Frank Gasparro’s reverse numbered 250. It is not 24-karat gold and not a private medal.
Further types — cents, half dollars, gold eagles — will be added as they are photographed, as in this country’s paper case.
This country’s paper money is documented in the notaphily case. United States · From colonial paper to the Federal Reserve
Coins in the collection
One unslabbed Philadelphia 1776–2026 dollar. Further coin pages will be published as they are documented.
The catalog
Three chapters, left to right: the Philadelphia mint, the manganese-brass dollar, and the Semiquincentennial. Below, the record of the 1776–2026 $1 documented in this collection.
from 1792
The Philadelphia mint
The Coinage Act of 2 April 1792 created the United States Mint in Philadelphia, then the federal capital. That house is still the mint of this piece.
Before 1792 European coin circulated and payment was also made in kind. Congress placed the first federal mint in Philadelphia on 2 April 1792; the house stayed there when the capital moved to Washington. In its first years it struck copper cents and the first gold and silver pieces. This case does not try to cover two centuries of types — eagles, Liberty Seated, Morgan, Lincoln. For now it records a 2026 Philadelphia dollar. This country’s legal-tender paper is catalogued separately, under Notaphily.
from 2000
The manganese-brass dollar
Since the Sacagawea dollar, the 8.10 g, 26.49 mm manganese-brass module has been that of the circulating $1. The 2026 piece uses that same alloy; it is not gold.
Circulating gold dollars ended in 1933. The small cupronickel Susan B. Anthony dollar (1979) yielded in 2000 to the Sacagawea manganese-brass piece — 88.5% copper, 6% zinc, 3.5% manganese, and 2% nickel — the same planchet later used for Native American dollars, Presidential dollars (2007–2016, 2020), and American Innovation dollars. The presidential-seal reverse of those Presidential dollars is Frank Gasparro’s, with his initials FG. The Semiquincentennial dollar reuses that reverse, with 250 in the shield, and changes the edge: plain, with no lettering and no mint mark, unlike Native American and American Innovation dollars. Despite the golden color, it contains no gold.
2026
Semiquincentennial
The 2020 redesign act authorized a 2026 dollar emblematic of the 250th anniversary. The Treasury chose Donald J. Trump’s portrait for the obverse.
The Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 (Public Law 116-330; 31 U.S.C. § 5112(y)(1)(C)) lets the Treasury secretary strike, during 2026, a $1 coin with a design emblematic of the Semiquincentennial. It bars portraits of living people on the reverse; it places no matching limit on the obverse. On 16 July 2026 the Treasury unveiled the type: a facing portrait by Joseph Menna (JFM), after an official White House photograph by Daniel Torok, with LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST, and the dual date 1776 ~ 2026; Gasparro’s reverse with 250 in the shield. Circulating-quality rolls and bags, Philadelphia only and without a mint mark, went on sale on 2 September 2026. A separate 24-karat one-ounce gold program is not this piece. A precedent for a living president on United States coin is the 1926 Sesquicentennial half dollar, with Calvin Coolidge.
Sources
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United States Mint — Semiquincentennial Trump $1 designs (4 Aug. 2026)
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Mint release: Joseph Menna portrait after a Daniel Torok photograph; Frank Gasparro reverse with 250; authority 31 U.S.C. § 5112(y)(1)(C) and Pub. L. 116-330.
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CoinNews — Treasury unveils the 1776–2026 Trump $1
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Specs: 8.10 g; 26.49 mm; manganese brass; plain edge; Philadelphia with no mint mark; not gold.
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CoinNews — 2 September rolls and bags and the JULY 4th privy
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Circulating quality, Philadelphia only. 250,000 pieces with a JULY 4th privy mark, a different variety from this no-privy type. Prices are not republished.
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Public Law 116-330 — Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020
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Authorizes a 2026 dollar emblematic of the Semiquincentennial; bars portraits of living people on the reverse.
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United States Mint — About
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Founded by the Coinage Act of 2 April 1792 in Philadelphia.