U.S. MINT PRESIDENTIAL MEDALS.

Well good news then because the Mint is doing that a lot of that next year.

 

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I'm just glad they don't have Coins based on Comic Art stuff, just medals.

 

You mean like the $50 gold coins with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, with more comic book characters to come in future years. (I may be missing a sarcasm intent in Clawcoins post.)

 

The gold ones are actually legal tender coins, with a face value of $50. The 1 oz and 2.5 oz silver ones don't have denominations, so are in fact just medals.

It doesn't bother me in the least that these exist; my only complaint is that they're overpriced, otherwise I'd probably buy them. Pop culture is an important part of our history and culture too, and the designs are really well done. They just cost too much.

 

They do bother me, but I'm willing to consider the possibility that that's a me problem.

I think my problem isn't so much that these are pop culture, but that the "heroes" are commercial property. And I fear we'll be seeing a lot more of that over the next couple of years.

 

I don't buy any of this, not in my orbit, but I'm not bothered by it at all. They can make all of the commemoratives, medals, specialty products they want. The cost is what people will pay - the free market is alive and well. If enough people don't pay what they are asking they wouldn't sell and prices would drop or they would make smaller lots. It's rather interesting, this is probably the only arm of the government that operates in the "real" world.

 

I agree with you that no living president, who is still in office, should appear on a current coin. I disagree with you that is not right to have a dead president on one.

I was 14 when JFK was assassinated. The feeling of shock and sadness was so strong at that time that there was nothing political about it. It didn't help LBJ get elected. The vast majority of people wanted JFK to be honored and rememebered.

Here's the only U.S. coin which was issued when the president was in office, the 1926 Sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar. The president was Calvin Cooledge. Some people, who didn't like Cooledge, commented that it was hard to tell if he were dead or alive. He was known as "Silent Cal."

 

I think it's fair to point out that Coolidge himself only agreed quite reluctantly to be depicted on the coin; he was initially against the idea but gave in eventually.

He is the only president to date depicted on a US coin while still alive, but not the only person.

To each their own I guess, but me personally I don't see that as a problem. I just wish they were priced more within the realm of reason for casual collectors, as it would have the potential to get more interested in the hobby.

 

I, too, was 14 when Kennedy was shot, but I lived in a different world from you. Not everybody was so shocked and wanting him commemorated in the South. The coin was seen as very partisan. Whether it helped LBJ or not in 1964, I can't say, since he almost certainly would have been elected anyway, (it certainly did not do much for him in 1968) but issuing it was very unpopular in much of the South. I'm not against having dead people on the coins, and some of my historical heroes have made it (e.g., Washington, Lincoln, G. W. Carver), but they need to have been dead long enough that, first, they and their memory no longer stir partisan passions, and second, that time enough has passed to reflect in a non-partisan evaluation of their worthiness. I'm not sure Democrats of today would choose to put him on a coin if he were not already on one. Likewise, there were many who passionately disliked Roosevelt. Some today are even offended by Washington and Jefferson because they both owned slaves. Why not stick to representations of Liberty or symbols of our country, at least for circulating coins?

 

Well said Neal.......

 

@Neal, I also collect political items dating back to George Washington although the hobby really gets stated with Andrew Jackson in 1824. I don’t recall ever seeing the Kennedy Half Dollar or an image of it used on a political piece. It was certainly not a campaign piece in 1964. The economy was good, and Johnson was riding the wave of positive sentiment toward JFK. Johnson had to withdraw in 1968 because of his unpopular escalation of the Vietnam War.

I was not alive when the Roosevelt Dime was introduced, but looking at file footage and reading comments at the time, I think his death was greatly mourned in 1945. Thereafter I would not have complained when his image replaced the Mercury design, which had already had a long run.

The quarter was originally proposed as the denomination for the Kennedy coin, but Jackie Kennedy objected to replacing Washington. Therefore the Franklin Half Dollar was replaced prematurely.

Therefore we shall agree to disagree. I think that both coins were appropriate at the time. Popular leaders help to pull a nation together and honoring them after death is appropriate. Vapid repeated images of Ms. Liberal get to be like faded wallpaper. They lose their impact unless the design is an outstanding one, like the Walking Liberty Half Dollar.

As for feelings toward Kennedy in the South, they were tempered at the time because of his stand on the civil rights issue. Kennedy was in Dallas on that day because he was attempting to shore up his southern flank. I remember reading how Jackie Kennedy commented to the president how warm his reception was just before he was shot.