My New Coinweek Piece: Army Half Dollar 2011 Reconsidered...

Regardless of politcal ideologies this statement should not be ignored...





Seems humans sometimes only want things when someone tells them they do.....

I can't say that I'm all that surprised by some of the comments, but thankfully I am more than confident in my ability to defend my position.

If you read the article as a criticism of the military, you read too much into it. I did not feel that it was necessary to state my own wartime veteran experience as a member of the Army MI community during 9/11 and the run-up to Iraq.

@bpoc1- I showed the number of coins sold for these military themes and the volume of them over the past few years not to question the worthiness of supporting the military- but to show that the public has kind of grown tired of buying these coins year after year. I also think that it is a sad statement that our Congress thinks that so few other aspects of American life are worthy of commemoration that we get military coins year after year. What does that say about Congress?

@smokediron- you are too polarized in your politics if you cannot look at these statements: "The Army hasn't enjoyed a peacetime posture in over ten years. This is just one of the many curious aspects of this ill-conceived design."

and

"The coin is cluttered with inscriptions, and the date (especially on the business strike version) is buried in the churning clouds of exhaust created by a launching missile. At first glance it resembles the Washington Monument- but it is in fact a missile, soaring off into the sky, set to level some remote target.... hardly an image that corresponds with the words "Service in Peace"

and not find something truthful.

A minuteman missile, which is what I assume the missile is- is a WMD. In the hands of another country- we'd hardly call it a peaceful device. Furthermore, as someone who spent the better part of my 20s in the military and still have friends who are career soldiers and marines- I'd rather they come home and be with the spouses and children they left behind.

Also, in the midst of a decade long war- what is being implied by Service in Peace? It's Orwellian.


having said all of that- what I am really getting at is how collectors have to be on their guard- that coins become much more desirable when someone is telling you that they are scarce- the Army half is a manufactured "key" coin for the modern commemorative series. The attempts to describe the coin and its place relative to other coins was, perhaps, a less than successful attempt to explain why nobody bought it in the first place- nobody but dealers, it seems...

Next week I'll write about a much less confrontational topic.

I do appreciate everyone comments, however, even if I disagree with the conclusions.

Thanks guys!

Charles

Just as Orwellian as Ensure. Pfffttttt

So now we're talking about Dick Cheney. I thought this was a coin site?

I didnt even want to bring politics into this at all other than to mention the sacrifice made by the men and women in uniform and the significant historical events the coins represent.

But it sure sounds like you would prefer the Osama Bin Laden or Al-Quiada series instead

I work for a defense contractor and I support the troops. Sorry but I don't glorify war. Shame on you, basebal!

Yea you just want to make partisan hack political statements talking about coins that have nothing to do with politics instead. Realizing the importance of history and honoring those that served during it is far from glorifying it but no point in trying to tell that to someone like you.

Save your political comments for your MSNBC board and please refrain from commenting on my posts in the future as I will no longer respond to you. If there was an ignore feature I would use it

I do not think a warning will work this time so I am going to end this before it gets uglier.

With apologies to cc.