Should Presidential Dollars Have Had Side View Portraits?

I say yes, although I know in reality it would not have mattered.

They would have still been seen as a failure, not circulating due to competition with the one dollar note.

Also, we all know there would be a significantly large number of people who would still complain about the Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and Kennedy dollar designs not holding up to their lower denomination counterparts. Or worse, complaining when the mint just reused those existing images.

I know the portrait wouldn't have helped it gain popularity with the public, but I said yes as I prefer side views over 2/3 and 3/4 views.
Personally, I wish that the mint had taken all the silver out of halves at the same time as they did so with quarters and dimes. That way, quarters would probably not have overtaken the half as the public's coin of choice, and everyone would still use my favorite US coin denomination. Plus, if we eliminate the cent, it will have been the longest lasting (in terms of number of years minted) US coin.
Sorry to steal the topic. In short, I support the circulation of dollar coins, and I think the US should follow Canada's example and promote the use of larger coins over notes. However, I think we could have done a better job designing dollars that didn't look like tokens. Even a side portrait wouldn't help that much.

I too support dollar coins and that's why I find most of the Presidential dollar coin series disappointing.

Circulation issues aside, the 3/4 and full view of faces on coins just does not work well. There's not enough relief on coins to accurately convey faces.

Agreed.


Probably the same thing that the Half Cent, Two Cents, Three Cents, and Twenty Cents collectors think. Plenty have been made, plenty left to collect.

I would have preferred classic side view images on dollar coins. I think they looked more like game tokens than the highest value circulation coin being made. I think they would have looked a lot better with side view portraits, a less shiny finish and a more classic arrangement on the reverse. I like the SofL but the layout of the mottoes etc. left a lot to be desired.

Personally, I think it would be neat if the mint did a coin series as a sort of tribute to previous designs, for each denomination using a different major design every so often. For example, with the dollar they might use the flowing hair design one year, then draped bust, then seated, Morgan, peace, Ike and SBA. It would neat to see all the past designs on circulating coins, and would teach the public about America's numismatic history. For legends that were added after a design was used, such as IGWT, they could just incorporate it into the design somewhere.