Why are US coins so blah -- Interview with CCAC member

I for one love te Jefferson nickel. The old one that is, not these new ones with a different obverse.

 

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I'm not arguing that point either way. If having coins for "coins sake" is why they're made, I would love to see new half cents...or two cents...or three cents. Why just keep the penny, nickel, and dime? You wanna know why? ...because they don't support commerce. Just like the penny, nickel, and dime are obsolete and no longer support commerce. That's the requirement.

You know why coin collecting is going downhill? It's because folks sock away thousands of boxes of newly minted coins and they never increase in value. I'm not saying we should do away with coins...just the opposite...we should make new coins that have some value in commerce. Why not make 5$, $10, and $20 coins? These coins would actually buy things (support commerce), last longer than paper money, and be painful to sock away in large hoards.

I'll bet we can come up with some REALLY nice designs, too! :thumb:

 

I knew it was you right when I looked at the title. I don't think they're so blah, I spend them all the time. Modern coinage is what it is, money to spend.

 

+1 :thumb:

 

I don't know about anyone else but I am really enjoying the designs of the native american dollars and the america the beautiful quarters. Especially the latter. Although I agree, we need to stop using presidents.

 

That cycle will continue when the memorial cents go the way of wheat cents. And then, you'll post another thread about how all you ever get in change is shield cents and how we need a redesign.

 

I wish the US Mint would do a real .999 silver 1oz coins like the Canadian Wildlife Series.:yes: I hate 95% of the junk coins that the US mint sells!

 

Did I miss something in that interview? I didn't see one comment in it about if our coins are blah or why.

 

Don't think that anybody who gets into the CCAC would say "US coins are so blah". Then again, she mentions her father's favorite designs, and the Canadian beaver and caribou designs. Whether that is a hint at what she likes in terms of designs ...

By the way, I just read in another article that Stevens-Sollman "also had influence in the design of the upcoming dollar coin commemorating the Girl Scouts of America's 100th anniversary." Now let's see what that coin will look like.

Christian

 

I've seen the artist rendition of the girl scout coin. I was very unimpressed even though the CACC enthused over it and even went as far as to say that it (the reverse) was the way all US coins should be moving toward. Typical PC obverse, and a flat no detail at all reverse.

 

That reverse design reminds me of a EURO design.

 

Well post WW II American coins may be blah, but at lest they are not Swiss. :foot-mouth:

 

Perfect example of why contemporary coinage is so awful. The reverse has no visual relationship to the obverse (aside from the minor echo of the "clover/shield" shape). They are incongruent styles, seemingly from different decades (cheesy 70s for the portrait and cheesy 90s for the reverse design).

The date and motto on the obverse aren't integrated into the design, just "stuck on" wherever there happens to be "empty space." (There is no such thing as "empty space" in a well-designed coin; there is "negative space" which allows the eye to rest.) Ditto with the reverse denomination and text.

The reason contemporary coinage is so bad is because artists don't design it; 3rd rate art-hobbyists do.

 

What, because it uses a digit to indicate the face value? Even a few (yes, very few, I know) modern American coins do that.

But as far as that design is concerned, I agree with oval_man: The two sides do not really "correspond" in my opinion. As if they were designed by two different people.

Christian

 

The whole topic of the Girl Scouts as a coin is a loser to begin with.... that is problem number one.

 

I'm not sure that's a valid argument, given the other subjects of commems.

And the reverse is the GS logo, so as clunky as it is, I think it makes sense.

edited for crappy spelling

 

Wow, I didn't realize it was the GS logo. Not too keen on it—and I just read on wiki it was designed by Saul Bass, who was a very notable graphic designer. Here's a link to some of his famous logos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SaulBassLogos.jpg

 

I didn't realize that was now the official logo either. I was familiar with the one used on the obv. Apparently they adopted the one on the rev in 1978 and updated it in 2010. Still don't like it for a coin design. Ranks right up there with the WY quarter.

 

The Girl Scout designs, like many other designs lately look like they're designed to be on a flat poster, not a coin

 

The Girl Scout design up there sucks like an industrial wet & dry vac! Most pre-65 coins look way better than this newer stuff. I think the blah started after the silver was removed. jmo/