Coins showing current presidents?!

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by JayAg47, Jan 29, 2021.

  1. Collecting Nut

    Collecting Nut Borderline Hoarder

    I can't say No loud or long enough. It's bad enough we have deceased ones on our coins and bills.
     
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  3. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    I wonder how coin circulation patterns might have changed if quarters, not half dollars, had been hoarded? I'm guessing not much -- halves might have circulated a bit more for a bit longer, but the Kennedy portrait wasn't the only factor driving them out of circulation, I think.
     
  4. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    Well, when you come right down to it, the same could be said of cash... ;)
     
  5. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    The 1924 Democratic Nation Convention required over 100 ballots to select their presidential nominee. The battle was between New York Governor, Al Smith, and Woodrow Wilson’s son in law, William G. McAdoo. Smith was a Catholic and against Prohibition, which made him unattractive for many Democrats. McAdoo was straight laced and conservative. The convention finally nominated John W. Davis who privately acknowledged that he had little chance of winning the election.

    Years later, Davis would be the opposing attorney in the landmark Brown vs. The Board of Education Supreme Court decision that ended segregation in the public school.

    Here are some buttons

    William Gibbs McAdoo

    McAdoo.jpg

    Al Smith. The brown derby was Smith's personal symbol.

    Al Smith Derby.jpg

    John W. Davis and Charles Bryan, his running mate. Bryan was William Jennings Bryan's brother.

    Davis & Bryan.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2021
  6. Mac McDonald

    Mac McDonald Well-Known Member

    Had heard/read that or something similar at one point...and because the half dollar was the only coin without a president, it was selected instead.
     
  7. KBBPLL

    KBBPLL Well-Known Member

    Heck, I don't even want to see their picture hanging in every government building. We all know who the president is, and it smacks of "Dear Leader" type stuff.
     
    Bradley Trotter and -jeffB like this.
  8. scottishmoney

    scottishmoney Buh bye

    More than a few wits thought the resemblance to the then president was no coincidence:

    [​IMG]
     
  9. whopper64

    whopper64 Well-Known Member

    Any politician on a coin or currency violates the spirit of our democratic Republic. Other posts have already discussed that any President on a coin is monarchist. In Kennedy's case, his assassination voids the above argument. All other coins and currency should be symbolic of this Republic - Lady Liberty, eagle, flag, Independence Hall, liberty bell, etc. And since this Republic was predicated on civilian rule, definitely not military heroes. One possible venue would be to honor deceased important scientists, doctors/nurses, and first responders who gave their lives for this country or super-human patriotic feats. Jonas Salk (polio eradication) , Nathan Hale, Lewis & Clark (mapping the frontier) & Rosa Parks (equality) come to mind.
     
    Etcherman likes this.
  10. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    Salk appeared on a commemorative coin in 2015.

    March of Dimes Dol O.jpg March of Dimes Dol R.jpg

    Lewis and Clark were honored a century apart.

    1905 Lewis and Clark

    1905 Lewis & Clark O.jpg 1905 Lewis & Clark R.jpg

    2004 Lewis and Clark

    2004 Lewis & Clark O.jpg 2004 Lewis & Clark R.jpg
     
    Spark1951 likes this.
  11. whopper64

    whopper64 Well-Known Member

  12. Raymond Houser

    Raymond Houser Active Member

    I todays PC world there is very little that won't offend some one. Only paper money with just the denomination would be acceptable to some. Remember, San Francisco voted to rename schools named after Lincoln, Paul Revere, and Diane Feinstein, just to name a few.
     
    johnmilton likes this.
  13. Bradley Trotter

    Bradley Trotter Well-Known Member

    Any design change is going to offend someone or some group of people regardless. This note from Bosnia and Herzegovina is probably one of the blandest notes in my collection. I'd be quite offended personally if something like it were issued in the United States considering how aesthetically unimaginative it is.

    Bosnia and Herzegovina 100 Dinara Face_000141.png Bosnia and Herzegovina 100 Dinara_000140.png
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2021
  14. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    The simpler the design, the easier it is to counterfeit. The portraits make counterfeiting harder.
     
  15. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    For most people, it's easy to distinguish slight discrepancies in faces. Apparently. For me, not so much. On the other hand, even a tiny difference in typefaces stands out to me like a sore thumb. But I know I'm not the "target audience" when it comes to currency design...
     
  16. messydesk

    messydesk Well-Known Member

    Yeah, um, no. And the President isn't considered to be "ruling," rather "serving."
     
  17. Conder101

    Conder101 Numismatist

    Nope, there is no "over all" law that forbids living persons from appearing on US coins as there is for appearing on the currency. In the case of the state quarters, President dollars and ATB quarters the authorizing legislation specifically forbid it (on the dollars it required the President to have been dead at least two years before he could appear). But in the case of the First Spouse coins the legislation DIDN'T forbid it and Nancy Reagan was still alive when her First Spouse coins were struck. (She did die before they were released though.)

    The difference being that Lincoln was the President, Chase was Secretary of the Treasury, Spinner was a Union General and then Treasury Secretary, William Fessenden was a Senator and then Secretary of the Treasury. Spencer Clark was a Treasury Department Clerk and the Superintendent of the Natianl Currency Bureau. In short the others were high government officials and Clark was not.

    He was and so was Senator Carter Glass. What I always found interesting is that these two actually got to vote on the bills that put their portraits on the coinage.
     
    -jeffB likes this.
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