For a long time I refused to collect coins from Mongolia until their government apologized for the war crimes committed under Ghengiz Khan. However, I saw these two and had to have them: Mongolia 1 Tugrik 1981 - Soviet-Mongolian Space Flight Mongolian Cosmonaut Gurragchaa Jugderdemid flew on the Soviet Soyuz-39 on March 22, 1981 Mongolia 1 Tugrik 1984 - 60th Anniversary of Mongolian State Bank
800 years is a long time to hold a grudge. I know people these days are big on hearing governments apologize for past crimes -- but if the crimes date back to the middle ages I'm not so sure that holding the current administration's feet to the flames is going to be that productive. Any apology they come up with is bound to sound hollow. "Hey, remember that one time, on the Mongolian steppes, when my ancestors from antiquity sacked your ancestor's nomadic tribe and burned down their tent? Um, yeah, sorry 'bout that. Our bad." I think there needs to be a statute of limitations on apologies. There's no end of nastiness perpetrated by the ancients, and we could all waste the rest of out lives excusing their bad behaviour. Even the "heroes" still celebrated today have an ocean of blood on their hands. Those are nice coins, and I would have happily added them to my collection too. Enjoy them, guilt free.
Hehe, yes. But if you browse earlier Coin Talk posts, you will find quite a few comments about how people either refuse to collect coins from certain regimes, or on the contrary are fascinated by them. So when somebody writes something like "I will not collect pieces from XYZ because there is blood on them" (not in a literal sense of course), replying what willieboyd2 wrote in the first sentence is a good way of reminding them that while a regime or war may have been cruel, it is somewhat odd to blame the coins for that. Search for "Genghis Khan" here, and you will know what I mean. And I agree, those two are neat pieces. Much better than most the recent issues that are apparently aimed at collectors only ... Christian
Very nice pieces. I am hoping to start adding more coins from the Eastern Bloc regions as well. Ghengis Khan, though, seriously? Should I apoligize for the Viking raids? That's a little out there, isn't it? Plus, I would doubt that anyone in government has direct ties to his actions, and the country hasn't really seemed to profit from these war crimes. I say, as with all history, learn from it and move on.
Beautiful coins. But darn, I'm still fuming at Czar Alexander I myself, because my great³ grandparents on one of my parent's sides (I forget which) were serfs. Putin had better apologize pronto!
