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Comment by numtel | Hacker News Reader

> In 2005, Congress decided that a new series of dollar coins should be minted to engage the public. These coins would bear the likeness of every former president, starting with George Washington. There would be a new one every quarter. So, far, the Mint has produced coins through the 18th president, Ulysses S. Grant.

Oh no, we're on course to make a coin with Trump's face on it.

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Mount Rushmore is more selective, but when dealing with "any" history we have to deal with passages and embarrassments - in general, "natural" dire lack of perfection recorded in time.

Only hours ago I learnt that Pierce won over his opponent in the electoral vote 254 to 42: quite overwhelming, in perspective. And Buchanan had been a remarkable officer in his career - though again not perfect (he had e.g. a few episodes of scolding from the perfectionist Polk).

Bear the likeness doesn't necessarily mean a face. I'd go with that scene of him walking up the stairs to air force one with the toilet paper stuck to one shoe. Or him playing tennis in too-short shorts. Those would still qualify the accurate likeness requirement.

Andrew Jackson is on the $20 and he’s basically the 19th century version of Trump

While we should replace him with someone who actually deserves to be on US currency I still think it’s absolutely hilarious the guy who hated having national banks is the face of one of the most widely used federal reserve notes. It would be like having a Henry Ford Jewish school

I find the same thing funny about John Wayne Airport- dude hated the airport when he was alive and lobbied tons of money to have them change the way planes take off so they wouldn’t buzz his mansion and bother him. I’m sure he rolls in his grave every time a plane doesn’t pull up sharply enough and mildly annoys a rich white person who bought a house in the takeoff path of the airport

Born in the 18th century, president in the 19th.

Fixed

> and he’s basically the 19th century version of

Maybe we should leave that to full-time historians, because I have never seen attributed to Jackson a number of critical traits attributed to 45th - by his own supporters.

Edit: maybe we should read this text, to be aligned at least with the accusations:

  Edwin L. Battistella, "Dangerous Crooked Scoundrels - Insulting the President, from Washington to Trump" (Oxford University Press)

> ø Features over 500 insults in a sweeping journey through two and a half centuries of the ridicule and revilement Americans have directed at their presidents; ø Puts today's political climate in perspective by tracing invective back to the nation's earliest days; ø Explains the historical context and linguistic origins of the insults, providing a sense of the history of the presidency and of the English language

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/dangerous-crooked-sc...

Well, "John Wayne" is the stage name. One presumes that any coin would use a person's legal name. John Wayne was actually named Marion Wayne. I would understand the naming of the airport as a tribute to the character rather than the actor.

> the character rather than the actor

They renamed the airport after he died, in his honour, as a prominent figure and a neighbour.

So, both the individual and the persona: past his youth, he had almost exactly the face of somebody used to tolerate soaring planes when trying to collect some rest.

> John Wayne was actually named Marion Wayne

No, Marion Morrison was John Wayne's real name. (Marion Robert Morrison to be more specific.)

The plan explicitly stated that only a president who had been dead at least two years would be honoured, so the programme officially ended in 2016.

Subsequently a special bill permitted the creation of a George H. W. Bush dollar in 2020.

The article didn't seem to specify metallic requirements, maybe the Trump coins could be made out wood - then the habit of biting a coin to verify could come back into vogue.

In a time where cnc mills are abundant, that would make for some interesting business opportunities.

Dentists would see an uptick in business too.

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