Just out of curiosity per your comment, have you ever lived anywhere else to draw this comparison? I don't mean just taken a holiday for a couple of weeks elsewhere or studied abroad a semester, did a 'tour of duty'. I mean lived anywhere else. I mean no disrespect but it's rather relative to whom you ask. And I'll add my holiday wishes to those observing the significance of the Fourth of July. Peace.
We have had commemoratives of every war now save for WWI and the ANA is petitioning for that. Why should generals receive higher praise than the grunts who died on their orders? Btw sir, Ike has already been well commemorated on other coinage. I am well aware of his political career as well. Happy 4th everyone.
[/QUOTE] None of these commems are celebrating war, they are commemorating history. Your political views are assigning meanings to the commems that a lot of us don't share.
There have been 60 or so different subjects commemorated since the 1982 Washington, 14 of them are military related. Is that a huge percentage, considering what effects that the wars we have fought have had on our society? The reasons for the wars and anyones personal political agenda on war should have no bearing on what is, or should be, commemorated. They are commemorating history and not politics.
Been there and done that: My grandmother bought these decorative plates shortly after World War II. Five-star admirals and generals, and Pres. Roosevelt to make eight. From top left to bottom right: Admiral King Admiral Leahy Admiral Nimitz General Arnold General Eisenhower General MacArthur General Marshall President Roosevelt
Well, I've lived in other countries and found my life there very pleasant, yet I always came back to the USA, specifically the greater NYC area. OTOH, if I hit the lottery, I'd move back to Brazil - at least during the winter!
Krispy, No, I have never lived outside of the United States, just Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and Florida. I have been to Canada, Costa Rica, Europe, Asia and Mexico. I have very much enjoyed all of those places, except Mexico and have said to myself "this is a nice place to visit, but I don't think I would like to live here." Only in the U. S. do I say to myself, "this is a nice place to visit and I do want to live here." Given the fact pretty much everything in life is a trade-off (you have to give up 1 thing to gain another), I have found, for myself, when I consider all of the variables involved and given the fact nothing is perfect, the U. S. chalks up a better tally for me. So, I will qualify my previous statement and say this: "given everything I know through personal experience, reading, hearing others' experiences, etc., I couldn't imagine living anywhere other than the United States and still being as content."
Don't think there is anything wrong with that. What I find surprising is that, sometimes, you hear people in the US who are surprised when a visitor from a different country does not share that view. But maybe this part of the discussion should be continued in some non-coin forum. As for those military dollars, as I wrote before, while I find this focusing on military themes to be somewhat alienating (again, from my POV), the overall mix - with the circulating commems - conveys a different image. And now that I know about the significance of that broken sword, that design makes sense to me too ... Christian
I have thoughts on this but no time to make them comprehensible. i will say, however, that when I was in France i was astonished how many of the memorials and public art was militaristic in its nature. I found this much less the case in Amsterdam.
Different regions, countries or continents have different histories - that also applies to FR and NL. And sure, there are several French coins that are about wars and battles (and few from the Netherlands). But neither of the two dedicates its collector coin program exclusively to the military. Or have a look at Polish collector coins - they issue quite a few with battle themes, even going back to the 14th/15th century, but they also have pieces about artists, scientists and much more. In fact, way too many for this poor collector. Christian
Maybe, but I grew up in a City where its main symbol is the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center. So it was a bit of a surprise that a region of the world so ravaged by warfare still centered much of its monuments on Military Victory, specifically and in the general. I'm used to military memorials, but in Bordeaux the river park was dominated by a statue representing victory. That was a new twist I wasn't expecting. At the time, and this was prior to 9-11-01, there were also French military personnel all over the airports and trains. In the US, Military regulation requires that personnel are not allowed to be in battle uniform in civilian areas. Of course in military towns soldiers cheat and grade a burger at Burger King for lunch, but armed soldiers on the streets was unheard of.
Not that this has anything to do with coins but what statue are you referring to? The dominating one I know is the "Monument aux Girondins" at the Place des Quinconces, and while I don't particularly like the style, it honors the Assembly members who, during the 1789 Revolution, were victims of the Jacobins. As for people in uniforms, you may see those at many airports, train stations ... in many parts of the world. Christian
Is that the one with the Nike with drawn sword? Bastille day is kind of cool as well, and celebrated today if I'm remembering correctly.
I think part of the "theme" problem is that you now have to take States, Parks, and to some degree Native American themes off the list, since they are covered with circulating (or near circulating) coins. This tallies 8 commemorative type coins that are produced each year.
I look forward to the five star general coin. What better way to support our armed forces? I agree that the US Mint needs to sub-contract out or hire some new artistic minds but not in the area of military commems. Sure the BSA, the 9/11 and other coins simply didn't hit the mark but is it really the fault of the US Mint or the organizations benifiting from the sales of these coins? Maybe I'm missing something here, are these two coins uninspiring?