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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Vess1, post: 2682027, member: 13650&quot;]This thread made me curious to look back at some of the history of commemoratives from the mint.&nbsp; I opened my Mega Red here to page 1148.&nbsp; And I quote:&nbsp; &quot;<b>No commemorative coins were made by the U.S. mint from 1955 through 1981.&nbsp; &nbsp; As the years went by, the numismatic community missed having new commemoratives to collect, and many endorsements for events and subjects worthy of the honor were made through letters to congressmen and other officials.....&quot;</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>&nbsp; </b>Its funny how the pendulum swings!&nbsp; &nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp; My thoughts on it are two fold.&nbsp;&nbsp; One, the mint has seemingly turned into another runaway govt agency.&nbsp; At least it&#039;s one that can turn a profit, but they have turned it into a business and a place of employment that provides more than what the market demands.&nbsp; For the most part they&#039;ve totally lost touch with collectors and throw things against the wall now to see what sticks.&nbsp; </p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; I don&#039;t know how many people are involved at putting all this stuff out but nobody earning a paycheck is going to voluntarily speak up and say, &quot;We don&#039;t really need to do this.&quot;&nbsp; &nbsp; In fact, it&#039;s more likely that they will try to expand and hire more people to do more that we don&#039;t need.</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp; My second thought ties into the first.&nbsp; The commemorative program should be more reserved.&nbsp;&nbsp; If it was, it would be held in higher esteem.&nbsp;&nbsp; I can only speak for myself.&nbsp; We all have varied interests that they may grab our attention with.&nbsp; In my view, the US Mint, representing the government of the United State of America, does better using the commemorative program to commemorate things that have to do with the government, including itself.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; The further they stray from this, the less interested I become.&nbsp;&nbsp; I was a fan of the 2008 Bald Eagle series.&nbsp; They&#039;re a national symbol, and the proceeds went to them.&nbsp;&nbsp; Occasionally something like that works.&nbsp;&nbsp; March of Dimes 75th anniversary I liked.&nbsp;&nbsp; I liked the design, the rev. proof dime, and the fact that it was a simple affordable set.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; I like when they commemorate mint events and coinage since that&#039;s what they&#039;re in the business of doing.&nbsp; &nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp; The subject matter gets too diluted, too far reaching.&nbsp; In 1997 they introduced a Franklin D. Roosevelt $5 gold out of the blue, not commemorating any anniversary.&nbsp; It made no sense.&nbsp;&nbsp; In 1999 GW $5 Bi-centennial.&nbsp; Ok, now we make sense again.&nbsp; &nbsp; Then they decide to commemorate the US Marshalls Service on the 225th anniversary.&nbsp;&nbsp; .....Ok&nbsp; They&#039;re really nice coins but it just seems like a forced issue to come out with at that time.&nbsp; Why then?&nbsp;&nbsp; The Olympics doesn&#039;t make for a good, lasting, collectible subject matter.&nbsp; It&#039;s good for that year and that&#039;s about it.&nbsp; It becomes insignificant, old news, too quickly.&nbsp;&nbsp; I&#039;d be ok if the commem program skipped a few years like the old days but it apparently can&#039;t work that way anymore.&nbsp; They&#039;re afraid of losing somebody if they don&#039;t put out so many offerings every month.&nbsp; &quot;The customers might not come back. &quot;</p><p>&nbsp; Just my .02 cents fwiw.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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