Numismatic forum to be held in Philadelphia

for those interested...
http://www.usmint.gov/pressroom/?action=press_release&id=1822

 

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And what sort of input are they going to get? It'll be some variety of these complaints, which the mint has been hearing (and ignoring) for decades:

You guys make too many different products. Try slimming it down some.
You guys make coins that are a pale shadow of the artistic coinage of the past.
Quality control, especially for collector made products, is really low.

 

That is something I need to find out about attending, since it will likely be walking distance from me.

 

What they probably want to know is, "What should we be putting on the reverse of the quarter next?"

I have this idea so wild, it's almost kinky. I say put the stinking eagle back on the reverse and use half dollars to be circulating quasi-commems. Then, discontinue the cent and put Lincoln on the new half's obverse. Does ANYBODY think JFK deserved more years than Franklin? Really?

 

Even more radical idea: take all the dead people off the coins and put Lady Liberty back on them.

I don't think *ANY* of them deserve to be on the coins.

 

The only problem with that idea is they won't use classic depictions and they'll go all "diversity PC" on the effigies. Liberty would have to "look like America". Better to keep dead Presidents.

 

They can't be any worse than the ghoul on the latest UHR atrocity. I'm okay with a bit of diversity in the portrayal, as long as they don't go overboard. Liberty is universal. Any portrayal of Liberty is better than dead presidents.

I don't want them to retread the classics - I want them to push artistry forward and use something new. It would have been pretty silly in 1916 if they just re-used Reich's Libertys instead of coming up with gorgeous new designs. I believe we have some good artists still, who are capably of creating attractive new designs.

 

Okay, then let's go the reductio ad absurdum route, just for giggles, shall we? Miss Liberty as Johnny Weir in outrageous drag. Now how do you like Presidents?

 

Is it animosity I'm feeling in the air?

 

NO, it's just a radical centrist reminding a hobby full of strident conservatives what can happen when they open up Pandora's Box in a country seemingly careening left. "Traditionalists" forget that when you disturb the status quo, it can sometimes bite you on the butt.

 

Well, they have my request.

 

Cool, hopefully I'll see you there. I applied this past Saturday.

 

I'd actually go the opposite on it. If you strip down the different packing there really aren't that many different products we just get offered the same things over and over again with a different case

 

ANY made for collector/investor products are "too many". IMO, the mint should get out of the collector/investor market and simply do their main job...create coinage to felicitate commerce. Perhaps if they weren't so busy trying to wring money out of our pockets they could actually slow down the presses slightly and actually produce coins that have their entire design visible.

 

NGH, not gonna ...

Their motto is "At least we ain't Canada."

 

All you have to do is the math on how long they have to make each circulating piece to see why the presses have to be at the speed they are at. There are only so many hours in the day.

To me though it would be a sad state of affairs if they had zero collector/investor products, those are supposed to be the pride of a mint and what gets a mint onto the world scene. It also helps get new collectors as it is an entry point to the hobby. I just wish they actually used some creativity instead of just repackaging everything

 

I have the opposite of "objection" to mints producing one-offs to exhibit their skills; I consider it part and parcel of their business and reputation in a field where artistic merit should be a given. If the US Mint leveraged their technical skills and the vast base of superlative artistry available in America to produce NIFC coinage like they're actually capable of, I'd be a strong buyer and an even stronger proponent.

Not that I'm not enjoying mocking them for not currently doing that.

 

Mr. Gambinni, are you mocking me?

 

This is how I imagine the forum. If anyone goes, let me know if I'm right:

 

What you fail to account for is my professional ability and willingness to disassemble "messaging speak", and not be afraid to hold hoofies to el fuego.