2013 Native American Dollar Candidates

Ugh. I agree with the treaty garbage. We act like Big White Father actually kept his word.

Ask my sister and her grandmother, REAL Native Americans, what they would like to see on a coin "honoring NA" and they would tell you to honor the culture of NA, not force-fed papers by Big White Daddy. How about the invention of vital (past and present) items like the canoe, snowshoes, corn farming, etc.? How about, here's a thought, HAVING ACTUAL NATIVE AMERICANS FROM ACTUAL TRIBES suggest designs?

I'm as white as it gets; family legend claims my great-great-great-grand-something was Sitting Bull, and I enjoy sharing the story as "unverifiable but interesting," but I'd never claim to be Sioux, and I would never presume that I could understand what it means to be part of the NA community.

There's a difference between "PC" (bad) and "understanding the concept of multiculturalism so as to not be ignorant" (good). I would support giving each of the remaining tribes the chance to design the reverse for a year *however they want to*--to put one of their legends on the reverse, or a traditional weaving pattern or dance, or a record of a historic battle or what have you (now I'm getting into territory I'm unfamiliar with and so I'm going to leave it there). I support doing this by sub-tribe--for example, the Iroquois are only classed as "Iroquois" by non-NA. One of the few things I DID learn in my overwhelmingly white-privileged classroom is that there are actually five separate tribes we call "Iroquois," and they weren't even all friends--at least two were deadly enemies who only joined forces against an Algonquin invasion.

. . . sorry, as someone with NA family members and who lives in an NA-heavy area (I live literally a block away from land owned by the Navajo Nation, who have been very gracious about allowing me to take pictures on their land of plants the developers have crushed through most of the Valley) I have strong feelings about this. We came to this country, we took their land, we broke the treaties we pretended to sign, we forced them onto reservations, we rewrote their history and now we want to presume that we know how they'd like to be honored? That concept to me reeks of racial superiority and privilege and is totally not okay. Even take a look at the "two feather" design, which is lovely, and whose feather is on top--Big White Daddy's or the NA hair feather? If you said the hair feather, look again. Big White Daddy triumphs.

Part of it has to do with just practical matters. If you dont use things that can be designed for a coin easily you can come up with some pretty uninspiring designs.

I guess you could put some writing on a belt for the great law of peace but how many people would have the first clue as to what its supposed to be?

The Indian with the Horse was pretty good. But the fact the treaties dont represent well just kind of shows how not everything is a good idea for being represented on a coin. Everyone has a coin that they wouldnt mind if it disappeared or was replaced so far this ones it for me. I'm not a huge fan of a series in full disclosure as the treaty coins are pretty blah. They did a decent job with the treaty coin but its just not really something that lends itself well to be depicted on a coin which I think they should stay away from. The Montezuma Castle I think would be make a good reverse or the Navajo National Monument or Navajo Veterans Memorial.

Nina after thinking about it a bit in all fairness to this series most series with changing designs have at least 1 design that falls way short of what it was trying to do. In this case its the treaty coin, the State Quarters had the FL coin, a lot of people hate the hot springs ATB and I don't think the El Yunque really makes you think of puerto rico.

I've got a stack of the sacs I'm saving up to resell from chopping up uncir sets for my state and ATB Quarter albums. After seeing them again most aren't that bad. I'm never a fan of something that has to be described to know what it is like the treaty but I don't think they really could have done any better once they decided to go with that.

I did cringe when I saw they went with the edge lettering on these too and do hope who ever thought that was a good idea was fired or no longer gets to make those decisions.

There probably were better choices they could have gone with than the treaty that early but I would say that is historically significant and can see the argument for it from that side, but from a design perspective that probably should have killed it. It may not be PC but tobacco should get a spot on one too if they haven't done that as its the whole reason the colonies survived. I guess in the end that series is probably a bit of an afterthought though as I suspect that the dedicated collector base pales in comparison to a lot of other series they do. And we all know the most time and effort will be spent on big money makers

Im not a fan of the Wyoming coin either, but from what I understand it does actually have meaning to the state if youre from there. The FL one literally looks like they had images on a dart board and what ever they hit would go on the coin. Just a random collection of stuff that has nothing to do with each other.

Ive only seen one treaty so far but there could be more. I dont really pay attention to them unless I have the mint set I needed for something else and I'm missing 3 from the 2000s currently so I havent seen those designs yet. The treaties were at least historically significant but they dont translate well to designs. Should have been saved for the end of the series if at all imo. Hopefully the changing designs wont go on too long or they could really get brutal.

I did a presidential P and D album and I despise the edge lettering now after that experience. I think I got them all in the right slot but I have no idea and no longer care at this point since you cant tell. I honestly think I spent more time trying to read the P and D putting them in the album than I did finding the coins.

Im not a fan of smoke either, if people want to smoke just be considerate of others around you when you do is my personal feeling. But I agree that those would be fantastic coins. They translate well to a design and are historically significant. Win Win in my book.

Let me clarify just for the sake of anyone backreading this months or years from now, I like the edge lettering for "E Pluribus Unum" and "In God We Trust," and support the placement of the date on the edge on the Presidential series (things that are not in a sequence should have a date on the face). The mintmark itself should be placed elsewhere--perhaps near Sacagawea's near arm, at the bottom, where it's easily readable but doesn't distract from the design.


As for the Wyoming design . . . I respect that it's significant to people living there, but did the Mint have to be so LAZY about it? "Whoopee, folks, we have a cowboy on a horse! YAH-HOO GIDDYUP!" Why no mountains or something in the background to at least make it look like there was effort beyond slapping the state logo on a coin?


(Oh, and Basebal . . . at least the images on the Florida coin relate somewhat to Florida. The PA coin inexplicably has the Statue of Liberty placed right around Lancaster County, plastered over a silhouette of the state. You're telling me the state that WON the War of 1812 via the Battle of Lake Erie, houses the Liberty Bell, was the American home of Benjamin Franklin, home of Gettysburg, couldn't come up with anything better than the silhouette of the state? That one legitimately tees me off. I would have picked a design of the Liberty Bell to the lower-right, intersecting with the Flagship Brig Niagara. Pshyeah.)