I have been reading through the Coin Chat forum today. The influence of the politics of the person on the coin affects whether some people collects a certain coin. I hadn't really thought about it much. I guess I am just out of touch with the new trends. Well, being the old poot that I am, I don't really collect any coins because of the politics of the person on the coin. I just collect the coins that appeal to me for the coin appearance only. Among a couple of my favorites are the silver PRF69DCAM Kennedy Halves and Eisenhower dollars. I just like the appearance of them, the silver content and that is about it. But then, as I stated earlier, I just like them for the bling I guess. Yes, I do realize many don't like these coins because of their looks. But I guess that is one of the reasons their are so many different cars. Please don't think that I am talking down to anyone that lets politics influence their collecting. You have 110% right to collect the way you want. It is your collection. I do enjoy your writings in the forum though. As I write this, I just had a thought cross this small old brain of mine. I could say the same for myself when it comes to politics. You couldn't give me a silver or gold coin, if there are any, with Adolf Hitler depicted on it. Well, I guess after all of this meaningless rambling, I am rather political on the subject after all. Enjoy your coin collecting folks, no matter what influences it. They belong to you.
Good topic. In my own case, I collect coins for the historical & numismatic value. Plus, I have this obsessive desire to complete "sets". I don't shy away nor am I attracted to coins based on politics or if I personally like the person depicted on the coin. Case in point is I am only one coin away from completing a full P&D album of Presidential Dollars, all found CRH. I guess if I let politics enter into the picture I wouldn't want a full Presidential Dollar album, lol. Ironically, the lone missing coin is the Philadelphia Richard Nixon (talk about a controversial president!). The other example is a 1937 German 2 Reichsmark (see photos). The obverse has the German Eagle perched on top of a wreath encircling the swastika. While the meaning of that symbol revulses me, I can appreciate the coin for its historical value and silver content. Therefore, it has a home in my Foreign Coin Album. It also has Paul Von Hindenburg on the reverse.
It is all about values to me because I came to understand money as a teenager by reading the works of Ayn Rand. You can find "Francisco's Money Speech" online in many places. I am a writer, not a collector, but I have some of this and that. When I collected actively, I pursued philosophers, not emperors, thus my Marcus Aurelius sestertius. Going through bulk bags of foreigns, if I found a nazi coin, I threw it in the garbage. But I confess that I have a 1922 USSR Silver Ruble. So, we make our choices... As for Pres. John Kennedy, he has been going through something of a re-evaluation in the last couple of decades. Now, he is perceived more as a conservative than a liberal. His "Berlin Wall" speech, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and forming the Green Berets were his foreign policy. It is said that he advocated for a renewed US Treasury Silver Certificate to replace the FRN. It is highly ironic that the US Mint struck a $5 Gold Franklin Roosevelt commemorative. Stater from Sinope c. 400 BCE attributable to Diogenes the Cynic.
Oh yes. Along the same lines.... I once took visiting family to the South Carolina State house. It is a beautiful and historic building. There are craters on the west wall where General Sherman’s cannon balls impacted the structure...... Leading my family through the senate chambers we were admiring the presidential portraits that lined the walls around the chamber. First time I had noticed that one President was missing! It was Mister Lincoln. In the same moment it also occurred to me that the cannon ball craters on the side of this historic building were also Mister Lincoln’s. Perhaps why his portrait is not on the chamber walls! It was only a short 150 years ago that terrible scar burned across our nation born of political idealization..... I decided then that political issues would never polarize me or my coin collecting.
There are plenty of people in this hobby, and probably in your neighborhood, who view Lincoln as a great historical villain. One wonders how they bring themselves to handle cents or five-dollar bills.
I research the history of all the coins I own. My own views of that history and the people involved in those era have nothing to do with what I collect.
