British Artist Iain Alexander Works With Trump on $250 Bill Design
By Theo Belci
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Two political appointees at the Treasury Department have been pushing for the manufacture of prototypes of a $250 bill with Trump’s face on it, The Washington Post reports. The artist who designed the mock-up of the bill, the British painter Iain Alexander, told the Post that he’d spoken to the president about the design, and that Trump had offered feedback on Alexander’s original proposal. Trump’s notes were simple: Add a logo, and make the bill more colorful.
“He likes to call me his favorite British artist,” Alexander said. Alexander also told the Post that his proposed design for the back of the $250 bill fell under a “women’s liberation” theme and included the visage of Betsy Ross, the seamstress credited with sewing the first American Flag. Alexander added that he’s been having difficulties getting regular feedback from Trump on other 250th-anniversary-related art projects, but that he understand the president has “got on his plate at the moment.”
No living person is legally permitted to appear on U.S. currency thanks to a law passed in 1866, but nonetheless, the Trump administration has attempted, in the last year, to pass a bill exempting the president from this restriction.
However, not everyone in the Federal Government is onboard with playing so fast and loose with currency. “These guys [members of the Trump Administration] think you can just print something overnight and it’s going to work in an ATM. It’s just crazy,” an anonymous US Mint employee told the Post. “It takes years and years and years to produce these notes so they are reliable for the public.”
This article was originally published by Artforum.