Move over, George Washington. Step aside, Abraham Lincoln. The ultimate Washington monument has arrived, and it features a very much alive and kicking Donald J. Trump. In a move dripping with ego and legal gymnastics, the 45th president has become the first living commander-in-chief in a century to grace official U.S. currency. The U.S. Mint, in a feverish sell-out that would make a concert scalper blush, launched golden-hued $1 coins bearing Trump’s unmistakable visage, flanked by the words “Liberty” and “In God We Trust.” The coins vanished from the website within hours, priced at a premium $61 for a roll of 25, proving that MAGA loyalty has a price tag—and it’s collectible.

But how, you ask, did this happen when federal law explicitly bans living presidents from appearing on currency? Cue the loophole! The administration has leaned into a design clause related to America’s 250th-anniversary celebrations and a technicality from the 2020 Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act. The law prohibits living portraits on the reverse of coins but, in a conveniently Trumpian twist, remains silent on the obverse—the “heads” side now occupied by the president. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has already teased a new $250 bill featuring Trump, suggesting this is merely the opening act of a personal branding blitz on the nation’s wallet.

Critics are howling that this is less a celebration of national history and more a permanent stamp of one man’s legacy onto the institutions he vowed to protect. The coins, while legal tender for debts and taxes (good luck using one at your local coffee shop), are being marketed as collector’s items—a not-so-subtle monument in miniature. They’re 88.5% copper with a brass coating, a fitting metaphor for something that looks golden but contains no real gold. The vending machines at the Mint’s D.C. store are reportedly humming, dispensing this controversial piece of history one dollar at a time.

This isn’t Trump’s first foray into numismatic narcissism. Earlier this year, the Treasury announced U.S. paper money would soon bear his signature, another first for a sitting president. The administration points to Calvin Coolidge’s appearance on a 1926 half-dollar as precedent, but the scale and brazenness feel uniquely of this era. As the coins sell out and more are hastily minted, one thing is clear: In Trump’s America, the currency of power is self-aggrandizement, and business is booming.