Do We Really Want Lady Liberty Back On Our Coins?

When our founding fathers were putting together the structure of our great country, they were trying to do things MUCH differently than what had been done for hundreds of years in England.

One of the topics of discussion was in fact coinage. The fathers wanted to make sure that our coinage did not have a King or Queen on the coin, as all English money had at the time. They believed that the country as an idea was more important than just one person. Hence... Lady Liberty.

After 100 years of growth, and political corruption, the country had lost some of that original 'country pride', and people no longer thought in the same way. We had begun our downturn as a society and public politicians towards something that more reflected England ... not what our fore fathers had in mind. I have no doubt in my mind that our fore fathers would be disgusted with what we have become.

When you read the Declaration of Independence, or the Constitution, the wording used is just amazing. There is a great line in the movie "National Treasure" where several characters say (to the wording of those great documents) "No one talks like that anymore". I think it goes further... I think no one THINKS like that anymore.

To return Lady Liberty to our coinage in her proper form (not the backdrop to a dead president), I think would be wonderful. I realize that the skill and artistry may not be what it once was. I realize the materials now being used may limit what fine details can be put into the coin.

I realize the modern Lady Liberty may not have the same eye appeal of 'yesterday's' coins, however, if you look at our early US coinage, she wasn't much for the eyes to begin with.... But it was a start... Her figure on our coins represent more than 'art'. They reflect our sense of pride. Our sense that our country really IS more important as a whole than any one person.

And we, as a country, need a fresh start back down the road of country pride... a sense that our country is something special.... A reason for people to WANT to come here, besides looking for free hand outs and free money.

 

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Sorry.. Seems to have double posted...

 

You can't have open borders in a welfare state, it just doesn't work. Milton Friedman said that like 30 years ago.

But anyway, back to coins... someone mentioned a coin design with Lady Liberty in a wheat field. See coin below, i think this is it. Nice design, but again if struck on the current hard planchets we use today she may well look dull and lifeless.
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These "dead presidents" are quite popular figures amongst the general populous. Congressmen have to worry about getting reelected and doing something that goes against the general populous (especially when it is somewhat "meaningless") might not be a good idea.

 

Yep, that is the one I suggested as well (see post #39), so it will be the one that 2schnauzers2luv has in mind. And while that particular design would probably not work with relatively small circulation coins, it could be a starting point for designers.

When it comes to coins produced specifically for collectors, I don't mind if the issues "serve" the political preferences of collectors. But with circulation coins, or circulating commems, it does make sense to keep the "general public" in mind when finding themes and designs for coins and paper money.

Christian

 

Would that include William Harrison who lost his life in office because he stood in the cold rain giving a speech for two hours at his inauguration and came down with pneumonia. Honor a President with a coin because he didn't know enough to come in out of the rain?

And you might want to take Washington off that list. He never wanted his portrait to appear on the coinage. The honor was offered to him and he turned it down flat. I think his wishes on that point should be honored.

 

I don't think the general populous even knows which dead presidents are on our coins. Putting dead presidents on our coins simply serves the purpose of elevating corrupt politicians to the status of kings/queens. I say gives us Liberty on our coins, regardless of how it looks.

 

Two things:

1) We currently have a Lady Liberty on our coins. Sacagawea is a rendition of Lady Liberty. We have no pictures of what she actually looked like. The legislation called for an expression of Liberty in the form of Sacagawea. That's what we have.

2) If we replace the current designs with Liberty designs and we don't like them, we can change them every 25 years instead of running the same dead president for 100 years + like Lincoln, and (soon to be)Washington.

The best part about our early coinage is that the designs changed often. We may not like all of them, but we have enough denominations and we can change them often enough that we can find some new classics and continue to create new designs at the same time.

 

... and the only $1 coins that actually depict "Lady Liberty" are not produced for circulation any more.

Christian

 

If they changed the coins, people would probably say, "Who the heck is this chick?" <sarcasm> Maybe we need Kardashian Koins so people would recognize them. </sarcasm>

 

Kardashian coins would be cheap and hollow?

along with a huge reverse, i might add...

 

That would be an interesting physics experiment... how can we make a coin where the reverse is bigger than the obverse?

 

How many times have we run across "Eisenhower Dimes"?
People don't know who is on what and they really only care if it can bolster their religious/political positions.

 

most people know that lincoln is on the cent, washington on the quarter, washington on the one, lincoln on the five and franklin on the hundred. if they leave those denominations alone, the general public wont really care whats on the nickel, dime, half, etc.

 

I disagree that is serves the purpose of elevating corrupt politicians. Although we (myself included) aren't a huge fan of having Presidents on our coins...I don't think elevating corruption is why they are there. The Presidents on our coins were chosen very carefully. Two were founding fathers and critical in the shaping of this nation (Washington and Jefferson), two led us through very difficult times for this country (Lincoln and FDR). I know Kennedy was very popular and was publicly assassinated and that is really why he is there...but the other 4 are very important figures in our history and really shaped the country we have today. I know many here aren't in love with FDR's political ideas...but he did lead us through a very difficult era in US history. These Presidents were placed on our coins to honor them for this.

But, that wasn't my point in saying it might not be a good idea for a Congressman to make a big stink about this. Even though many people may not know Jefferson is on the nickel or FDR is on the dime...(I think most know Lincoln is on the cent and Washington is on the quarter)...I think that their proposed removal from our coins might suddenly me met with a rather harsh public response. It could be unpopular to remove these "great leaders" from our coins in the eyes of the general public. Since such a move really makes no difference (in the grand scheme of things)...why would a Congressman (who needs to worry about getting reelected) take that risk?

 

There you go, "Shaped the country we have today", pretty sad, huh? I just figure all politicians, past, present and future are corrupt. Regardless of how the history books view them, they were there to line their and their cronies' pockets, usually at the expense of the people. None of them deserve to be immortalized on our coinage.

 

if you think that of EVERY one of them, then you need a few history lessons. I hardly think that Lincoln was in it for the "back door deals" and the largesse. Nor was it likely that Teddy Roosevelt was, either. These are but two examples of men who helped to forge our country.

Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.