The fate of limited-issue commemorative coins minted ahead of a canceled Singapore summit between Kim Jong Un and President Trump is unclear after the June 12 event was scrapped Thursday. But a private shop is now selling thousands of similar souvenirs.
Political furor erupted this week after journalists photographed the commemorative coin, which bears the likeness of Kim and Trump. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., demanded that the North Korean leader’s face be removed.
Only 250 of the controversial coins were ordered by the military’s White House Communications Agency from a private design firm. The WHCA, a division of the Defense Department, has since 2003 ordered coins to distribute to military members who travel overseas on presidential trips.
It’s unclear if all of the privately minted coins were distributed. Pentagon spokespeople directed inquires to Karen Brazell of the White House Military Office, who did not immediately respond to inquires.
The designer of the coin, who asked not to be identified, told the Washington Examiner, “I’m out of this” and that “once the coins leave the custody of my firm, I have no idea what happens to them.” She said she does not sell to the general public.
The designer said that similar so-called “challenge coins” are issued for military deployments, and often carry sentimental value. “Unless you’re the one percent of us who are in the military, the public doesn’t really know about it,” she said. “It’s almost like a scrapbook.”
The artist said “it’s a very military thing,” and that she was surprised by the backlash to the Singapore summit coin. She surmised that some criticism comes from people making fun of the coin, to whom she says “it’s art.”
“If you have not served you don’t quite understand the origin of them,” the artist said. “Every time the president and vice president leave the country a coin is created, not for the president but for the military personnel that go on the trips.”
Although the famous batch are unavailable to the public, the White House Gift Shop is reaping a financial windfall from interest in the coin with its own “President Trump Korea Singapore summit coin.”
As of noon Thursday, about 5,000 of the coins were pre-ordered, says gift shop chairman Anthony Giannini. The store is only operational online but holds a trademark on its name and historical links to the White House.
Although some social media users were confused, Giannini said his coins are totally different from the military commemoratives.
The gift shop’s coin design has not been publicly released, but Giannini said it will have a 2.25 inch diameter with gold plating and seven colors. One side will include various themes, including Trump’s work to release detainees overseas.
The shop’s coins are selling for $19.95. The website says they will be shipping in two months. Giannini said it will be about eight weeks before an order is placed to mint them.
“Last night we had thousands and thousands … of friends from Korea” visiting the shop’s website, he said. “And they bought a lot.”
Giannini said interest approximately tripled after Trump canceled the summit on Thursday morning.
Regardless of whether a summit actually happens, Giannini plans to issue his coins, as an aspirational token.
Meanwhile, the military coins are likely to continue to attract intrigue.
Although rare, members of the military do sometimes sell their challenge coins on platforms such as eBay. The designer of the Kim Jong Un coin said she believes military members are free to resell the mementos as they please.
The designer repeatedly insisted “there’s really not a story here” and that she felt the matter was greatly overblown. She said, however, that she would object to emulations of the coin.
“If someone were to knock off these coins, I am the one who would not want them to,” she said. “You can’t steal someone else’s design to profit, you just can’t do that.”
