| Author |
 Replies: 36 / Views: 2,796 |
|
Pillar of the Community
Poland
3201 Posts |
"Circulating quarter dollars await action in Senate An expansive coin program highlighting the grandeur of national parks on quarter dollars that would begin in 2010 passed the House of Representatives July 9 with a vote of 419-0." (copied from CoinWorld.com) - as I understand if this is approved it will result in another lengthy series of quarters. My question is: why do mints produce long series of circulation coins? Aren't the State Quarters and the presidential series enough? I mean that nobody produced 50 different coins in the 1960s or 1970s. Even the Soviet 1980 olympics series is shorter [45 coins including silver and gold]. Why exactly are they so keen on these long series? [What is more, even here in Poland we've got two similar series, so is this a global trend?] |
|
|
|
Valued Member
United States
84 Posts |
|
|
Valued Member
United States
100 Posts |
It keeps people busy collecting coins and makes them think that the Mint does actually do something.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
164 Posts |
In my humble opinion it all comes down to the mint making big dollars on these coins. The State Quarter program was a boon to the mint's bottom line in the millions of dollars. They must be thinking why not keep it going with the state parks, the Indian coins, oh, yeah, let's make first spouse gold coins so we can charge a super premium on the gold content that is in the coin. They probably already had the gold in a vault somewhere so they didn't have to lay out around 700-900 per ounce for the bullion for he coin. One more thing, the mint decided to remake the "most beautiful US coin ever minted" the St. Gaudens as a commerative to make more money here. Sorry to rant but it is just frustrating and annoying. |
|
Rest in Peace
United States
1501 Posts |
DL20KLet me see how briefly I can sum this up!?! Prior to 1999 coin collecting in general was at an a low, can be seen in the mintage figures for the mid 1990's in most categories of coinage. After the State Quarter program launched in 1999 a noticeable rise in the collector base and interest in U.S. Coins was on its way up also. After the releases of the Quarters for the years 2004 and 2005, which contain the Quarters for some of our more populous states, they have estimated that the collector base went from a low of 35 million to over 120 million. So with the State Quarter program ending this year, well actually next year with the addition of the D.C. and territories Quarters, Our congressional leaders want to ride this wave of enthusiasm (real or perceived) with the addition of the National Park Series. Any thing to keep people pulling coins from circulation to hoard for the future is money made for them. As to the Global Trend I'll let some one else chime in there.
|
|
Moderator
 United States
187702 Posts |
At this point, I really do not care what they put on the reverse of the Washington quarter, as long as they never resume the original 1932~1998 design. That way, my completed 1932~1998 Washington quarter Collection stays complete, finished, with nothing else to add! Yes I am being selfish, but I really do not want what would be an 11+ year gap in a series design!  |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
869 Posts |
The mint is no different then my local police dept.If ya sell more quarters you will get paid more.(funding from gov)And if your a police you should ticket more. Because you will get a picture in the paper and a award and a pay raise,nicer shiner bullets,ect. Its not serve and protect it's going to be swipe here and we will forget. LOL
Edited by coindexter
07/20/2008 2:43 pm
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1231 Posts |
Just wait coindexter, at some point in the future I can see the police walking back to your car with a credit card machine and the ticket. Sir, you need to swipe your card to pay the ticket before you are allowed to drive again.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
869 Posts |
Yes exactly and the mint will be the ones who design the credit card swiper
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
6326 Posts |
They make lots of Money......every growing popular hobby......
A terrible recession may affect these ideas they keep wanting to do.....that's the only way I forsee a "low" in coin collecting.....people being too poor to collect.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 Poland
3201 Posts |
And how is starting the State Quarter series directly/indirectly responsible for an increase in the number of collectors? |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1121 Posts |
DL20K, It is an inexpensive way for anyone on almost any budget to start collecting. They see the need to have all the states in their collection. Just as the advanced collector sees the need to have all dates, mints, silver, gold, grades, proofs, and errors in their collection. The mint realizes this and realizes they can make a profit from the typical "Joe" who will take out of circulation at least 50 quarters. Coin dealers love it, the mint loves it. As for the collectors, some like it, most think it's a waste.
|
|
Rest in Peace
United States
1501 Posts |
Our government spends more on focus groups and studies than they do on actual projects. I am sure that the ground work was well laid out before the first Quarter was struck! They held design competitions for the reverse images, ran press releases, all to peak interest in the program. So yes I would have to say directly responsible for the increased numbers. Quote:
It is an inexpensive way for anyone on almost any budget to start collecting. As neversuited1 said accessibility to the coins was and is key, you can put the set together from circulation with minimal trouble. I read somewhere in a recent survey that 1 out of 4 people in the U.S. consider themselves to be coin collectors, that would be a targeted group of folks with current populous at 303,824,646 (July 2008 est.) To get that many people to agree on anything is absolutely astonishing! Those numbers of folks will eventually tire of the quest, or get hooked like all here on CCF and delve into the depths of coins and currency, from here and abroad. The government knows this and wants to keep the publics interest in modern U.S. coinage peaked, so more focus groups, fact finding missions, congressional lobbyists, and so on, to keep this number growing and involved. Edited by COINAHOLIC
07/21/2008 2:17 pm
|
|
Valued Member
United States
204 Posts |
I think the State Quarters program is a good program in that if congress is not willing to revise the coin altogether, at least this breaks up the monotony of the Washington quarter design. Since the mint has to make new dies anyways, this is also a program with nominal additional cost (*this is a rare accomplishment from the U.S. Congress*). And unlike the Presidential dollar coins, at least the quarters circulate and are actually used. As far as I can tell the trend worldwide is to try to inject some life into their coinage programs, both as a means to encourage interest and probably because it costs so little. Add to that the fact that this is one area that receives very little negative feedback and you can understand why politicians see this as a winner to vote on. Voting on coin designs beats voting on health care reform any day  ! |
|
Rest in Peace
United States
3730 Posts |
We are "cash cows." The mint knows that.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
172 Posts |
I hope to God that this does not pass. Enough is enough already! Plus, with the limited detail allowed on a coin like the quarter, how distinct could you possibly make each design?
What they SHOULD do is shift the focus from coins to bills for a change. A series like this would work really well on the two-dollar bill. The large and detailed designs that a bill affords would pay better tribute to the grandeur and majesty of our national parks.
|
| |
Replies: 36 / Views: 2,796 |
Posted 07/19/2008 12:17 pm
