Old And The New Designs.

The idea actually came from the Peace Medal that was given out by Lewis and Clark. A reproduction so to speak or possibly, even way back then, a reproduction as well? One thing is for certain the current staff, or perhaps those with the final say in designs, have NO knowledge of art, culture, high relief (which could be used on commemoratives as they are not intended to circulate) or beauty. In a nut shell it must be politics!

You're generally correct, there, Dewey. Just like buildings, statuary and other monuments, coins are survivable relics of what art was like in the "good old days". The earliest examples of "renaissance" coins are blatantly obvious attempts to imitate ancient Roman prototypes - as if the mediaeval princes found some ancient coins, took them to their mintmaster and said, "I want my coins to look as good as these". The gold "augustale" of Frederick I of Sicily, circa 1231 to 1266 AD, is a very early example. The augustales were almost certainly "politically motivated" - Frederick had been proclaimed Emperor but there were many who were reluctant to accept this, so he wanted at least some of his coins to "look imperial".

Another fairly blatant "back to the good old days" series of coins were those of Fascist Italy. With designs and themes inspired by and even directly copied from old Roman prototypes, the intended message was clear: "The Roman Empire is back in business". Here's a prototype of "fascist" coins - and probably the Mercury dime, too.