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Comment by Clubber | Hacker News Reader

Obama wanted to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. Was that unconstitutional as well? I don't remember reading any articles about it being that.

As to the constitutionality of Trumps order, it certainly isn't as definitively unconstitutional as you seem to think it is.

https://www.theglobaltreasurer.com/2025/02/10/trump-orders-t...

Robert K. Triest, an economics professor at Northeastern University, noted that while a full discontinuation would require legislative approval, the Treasury Secretary might have some discretion to halt production.

“The process of discontinuing the penny in the U.S. is a little unclear. It would likely require an act of Congress, but the Secretary of the Treasury might be able to simply stop the minting of new pennies,” Triest explained.

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Congress has made rules regarding currency under which changing the portrait to show Harriet Tubman doesn't require specific Congressional approval. (For example, the person must be deceased.) Historically and constitutionally choosing or ending entire denominations has been up to Congress.

No, it wasn’t, because the Second Legal Tender Act of 1862 as well as 12 USC 418 explicitly grants the Secretary of the Treasury the authority to approve new designs for currency. All of this information is easily googleable if you’d like to educate yourself.

> Obama wanted to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. Was that unconstitutional as well? I don't remember reading any articles about it being that.

That seems to be due to you miss remembering the particulars of the issue.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/harriet-tubman-20-bi...

"The Treasury Department announced in 2016 that Tubman would replace Jackson"

So in one instance, we have cancelling of minting new pennies, ototh we have the changing of a picture.

I do think there might be viable authority to cancel the minting of the penny in the same way that there might have been viable authority for Biden to mint a coin and cancel debt. Seems to be similar rules at play there.

Responding to your edit: It is absolutely and objectively unconstitutional according to the letter of the constitution, no matter what Random Economics Professor might say. Whether anyone will care is a different discussion entirely.

>(a) The Secretary of the Treasury—(1) shall mint and issue coins described in section 5112 of this title in amounts the Secretary decides are necessary to meet the needs of the United States;

The secretary decides the amount necessary is 0.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/31/5111

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