2015-2017 Liberty Coinage

If I had my way, the only president allowed on coins would be TR and we'd put a moose on the back of any coin he was on.

I say no to this only because it doesn't eliminate presidents on coinage. If we can get to a point where that's a realistic possibility, then good. Until then, ideas like this don't really amount to much.

Let teddy win.

I fully agree with Teddy. He should replace Roosevelt for sure. And I can see the Hamilton thing and the like.

Hondo, on the whole, I absolutely loved the State Quarters and the ATBs are awesome (there are of course exceptions, like Wyoming), but the way they slaughtered TJ with the new design for the obverse leaves me little hope that they could get it right. Too many liberal arts pukes get their hands on these things and give us something that looks like Picasso puke.

SaintRidley, PLEASE explain to me why Presidents on the coins is so bad! you and many others say this, but I have seen NO reasonable justification for this attitude. And saying Liberty was a nicer design is weak.

I actually have a quarter with President Clinton on it.

My problem with presidents is that they're political in nature. You can't escape that. Much as I might like FDR (at least a little, I don't think his New Deal policies went far enough), there are many who despise the man. His three terms and change smack of dictatorship to some, while his New Deal policies feel like communism to others (they really, really aren't, though). It's divisive. Sure, we all love George (Washington - the two Bushes have not the luxury of being universally liked here), but he had it right about being on money. Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, and Kennedy are all much more problematic in terms of their politics and representation. There are still a number of people who think Lincoln was the worst person ever, and many are still bitter over Kennedy's election. You can't escape politics when it comes to political figures. And that makes for disunity. The feelings people have about certain political figures just make it a bad idea. You couldn't pay me, for example, to put something with Ronald Reagan's face on it in my collection, but there are a lot of people out there who want him on the dime instead of FDR.

Personally, I don't want to see presidents on coins. If we have to have one, why not Teddy Roosevelt? I admire his trust-busting and conservation efforts, and without him we may not have gotten the brilliant work of Augustus St. Gaudens on our gold coins at the beginning of the twentieth century. Some of the great beauties of our hobby exist in part thanks to good old TR.

As for why I think we should have Liberty on the coins again, I give three reasons. First, we wouldn't have to write it out on the coin anymore, leaving more space to incorporate design. Secondly, I'd really like to see what some modern sculptors could do to modernize and revitalize our personification of Liberty. There's a lot of space to work with design-wise that just doesn't apply to presidents, given that they actually have a defined appearance. No need to go fully abstract - like you, Picasso isn't my cup of tea, but I do respect his work and understand that he was trying to incorporate many views at once. Also, please don't trash the liberal arts. I work in the liberal arts (literature, specifically), and it dismays me to see such a broad field bashed (Math and science are also traditionally liberal arts, you know). Lastly, I feel it would capture better the spirit of unity which this country purports to believe in. We wouldn't have people arguing about why this president should be replaced with that president. We'd have a common, shared value expressed on the coins instead. Whether you like monarchy or not, the Queen is a symbol of unity (your mileage may vary, but the idea is that she represents all of Britain) that simply avoids the issue of political parties on Canadian, Australian, and UK coins. That, I think, is a good thing. Getting back to the symbolic is something I think would be good for our coins.

Now, that's not to say Liberty is the only way. It's my preferred way, but I think honoring great Americans (whose greatness is not tied to their success in politics) would be one good option. I'm inordinately fond of the Susan B. Anthony dollar in part because she is one of my heroes. I would be happy to see rights activists, great composers, great poets and novelists (seriously, get Walt Whitman onto a coin stat), great architects and artists, great scientists get their turn. Why not assign each denomination a certain field - dollar for rights, half dollar for science, quarter for art and architecture, dime for literature, nickel for music, penny for education for example - and pick a person to be on the front of each coin for the next twenty years. We won't ever run short of candidates at that rate, and it would provide a great history lesson.

But that's just me and my pie in the sky ideas on coin design. Never going to happen, but I can dream.

I was stationed in Mississippi and traveled throughout the south. He's very much hated down that way and considered like a Dubya lol. It's about the only area I've ever been to in the U.S. where that occurred but you will hear it on a regular basis.




basebal21...I have no idea how old you are or where you're from but I grew up during his Presidency and I can assure you he was a very much liked/loved President. The assassination put him into a whole different level but he was making a huge mark on our countries history. Make no mistake.

Guys... it was "Lincoln was the worst person ever"... not worst President.

I don't even want to start debating politics here. I think putting Presidents on the coins was good for a period - but we should shift away from it and back to them for what they actually are - symbols of currency. The liberty coins were that, a symbol of America - and isn't that Liberty.

I am not a fan of the Reagan coin idea and I think that it would become a huge political tug of war - especially with our current congressional leadership.

basebal - I think the thing that changed the perception of Kennedy was the Bay of Pigs... that was a huge huge deal. That was still very much in the minds of many people when he was killed. While I don't claim to remember everything that was going on around me at the time - I do very much remember how much his death impacted my family and I was 5 at the time.

I am not disagreeing with you about his place in our coinage as it stands today. Then again, I also have said I am pretty much convinced it is time to remove all political figures from our coins.