Can Coin Collecting Survive Awful Modern Designs?

How would you guys rate the current circulating coin designs?

My take:

Lincoln Cent - Classic Obverse - Poorly Implemented Reverse

Jefferson nickel - Face forward obverse recalls Sacagawea, I'd be for it if this meant an overhaul for the look of all coins - I think the Liberty and In God We Trust are unartfully implemented.

Roosevelt dime - I'm fine with it

Washington quarter - You know my thoughts about the flattened text cluttered obverse... It's terrible. Also against the rotating reverses

Kennedy half - The design is ok- only being minted for collectors so it's hard to really consider it a legitimate coin in my opinion- and I'm a high end Kennedy collector.

Sacagawea- The most attractive coin in production- and in this case I think the reverses are beautiful. This is the best modern coin- maybe the best design since the Peace dollar.

I think a few posters have hit on this already, but you can go down this list, Morgan's, Buffalo nickels, & Franklin halves designs were not liked when they were produced, and there are usually complaints about something on every coin design (initials on the Lincoln Cent & Mercury dime). In fact when Buffalo nickels came out people HATED them. People would say they were ugly when they were new and that they would be hideous after they had been circulated for 20 years. I personally view that as 1 of, if not my favorite, coin design of the 20th century. Maybe coins are like fine art, it usually takes a while until it is appreciated. Personally I love the designs of the ATB Quarters, but I wish they had gone back to the original Washington quarter front.

What I really don't understand is if we are in so much debt, why do we continue to go to the expense of redesigning coins all the time?

I dont know about you guys, but when I find a bu brown 1964 LMC with a nice high relief, I am happy! In contrast, the cents of the 80s and 90s, they are downright ugly low relief zinc!

I think the biggest thing is that we have let our designs get stale. That the mint is altering the designs is a baby step toward what needs to be done, though, as simple alterations to existing designs is not as good as a full scale redesign every 25-40 years.

On our currently circulating coins -

Cent: I like the shield reverse more than I liked the memorial reverse. Get Lincoln off the coin and get some new ideas for Liberty, though, and we're talking. Or scrap the coin altogether, ideally.

Nickel: Not a fan. Nifty change with the different perspective on Jefferson, at least. Better to change to Liberty. The most recent design for the nickel that I actually like is the design of the three-cent nickel. The five has never left me feeling pleased about the design.

Dime: Stale by this point. Reverse is still good, but could do with some modernizing. As a matter of course, returning to Liberty would improve the coin. Mercury dimes are the best dime design, though, but if it can look half as good I'll be just as happy.

Quarter: Stale obverse. Too much text and the rejiggering didn't make the coin look as new as the mint and Treasury would like to believe. Standing Liberty is the best design aesthetically, so perhaps a new Liberty taking some cues from that. Reverse - get the parks done and stick to a new reverse. At least the parks look good.

Half-dollar: Good looking coin, not minted for circulation anymore (unfortunate). Either something to stop minting or something to change. Walking Liberty was a great design. Cues from that.

Dollar coins: Finish out the presidents and go back to one standard. I'm okay with the reverse design on the Presidential dollars, but the Native American reverses are much more appealing. Again, let's return to Liberty, taking cues from the Peace dollar (easily my favorite portrayal of Liberty on a dollar coin). I'm okay with a shifting reverse on the dollar, once per year. Kill the dollar bill and get the coin out in circulation, though.


In short: Liberty over presidents, some designs are okay or even good but could stand some modernization, change designs roughly every generation to keep things from getting stale.

Coin collectors and dealers can say good, bad, great or horrible for a coins design. Really makes little difference since the sale of all of them is still up, up, up. If you check the USMints web site you would see they are making all sorts of just STUFF in coins and for coins. If you check out the Whitman Publishing web site you would see a massive pile of books, Albums, Folders, etc. There is that little baby sized dollar that just goes nowhere. A dumb shield on the back of our pennies that has the artistic appeal of a worm. Coin material that has really gone down hill. All makes no difference since so many coin dealers, Album and Folder makers, 2x2 flip makers and all the rest of the companies that make coin stuff show that massive profit. All the TPGS's that are getting rich on this coin collecting craze.
The main thing is regardless of who likes or doesn't like out coins, there are many companies getting rich on them.
Not to long ago there were hardly anyone making anything for coins. Today, look around you. Buisnesses for coins are everywhere.

I think it is time to get all the dead presidents off our coins. The liberty designs were for the most part much better. I don't think we should reuse the old liberty designs though. There are bright people who can come up with new designs just as nice as the classic coins.

While they are at it, why not take the dead presidents off the paper money also. Time for a change.

My favorite current coin is the Native American dollar. I like the idea of changing reverses once per year and the designs are pretty good. The ATB Quarters are much better designs than the State Quarters, but most people never see them. That is a shame. If the Fed would allow banks to order them, it would increase exposure significantly.

Well said.