choices

[G-Myth]

go with the ones you like the most (but the wallet makes the decisions I guess)......

first spouses or fractional buffalos

got to pick one....which would you?

[MunkyMan95]

Fractional Buffaloes over the run-of-the-mill First Spouse, but I'd pick the First Spouse designs where they modeled them after coinage of the period over a fractional buffalo any day.

[James_OldeTowne]

Fractional Buffaloes over the run-of-the-mill First Spouse, but I'd pick the First Spouse designs where they modeled them after coinage of the period over a fractional buffalo any day.

Couldn't have said it better.

[okbustchaser]

Where is the "None of the above" selection?

[rons]

It depends upon your objective. If you are just collecting for bullion then the buffaloes will be easier on the wallet with little chance of reaping rewards at selling time. Longer term the spouses with their limited mintage will increase in value more than the buffaloes. However the buffalo looks alot better than some of the spouses

[MTHead-migration]

Where is the "None of the above" selection?

 

Another vote for None Of The Above.

[19Lyds]

I strongly suspect that the First Spouse coins may be a bust which equals high dollar collectibles in the future whereas the fractional buffalo coins will more than likely have very high surviving mintages for this first year.

 

Simply because they are new and folks have been BEGGING for these!

[BankNote1]

Buffalo nickels are my favorite. It would be nice if the new Buffalo's were nickel sized. I would add one to my Buffalo album!

[Conder101]

Operating on the assumptions that the initial cost of the two options would be roughly the same, and that I have to buy one option I would take the First Spouse. The fractional buffalos are just that, more buffalos. Same design as the buffalo nickel, buffalo dollar, 2006 gold buffalo, 2007 gold buffalo, 2008 gold buffalo, just smaller. And they will probably be available and in the same sizes in 2009, 2010, 2011. . . . The first spouses though are part of a series where each coin is different, and mintages have a better chance of being low. (Except for the ones that have the Liberty designs. Those will probably have the high mintages in th post 2007 issues.)

[BankNote1]

Operating on the assumptions that the initial cost of the two options would be roughly the same, and that I have to buy one option I would take the First Spouse. The fractional buffalos are just that, more buffalos. Same design as the buffalo nickel, buffalo dollar, 2006 gold buffalo, 2007 gold buffalo, 2008 gold buffalo, just smaller. And they will probably be available and in the same sizes in 2009, 2010, 2011. . . . The first spouses though are part of a series where each coin is different, and mintages have a better chance of being low. (Except for the ones that have the Liberty designs. Those will probably have the high mintages in th post 2007 issues.)

 

What is wrong with more Buffalo's? The gold Buffalo is the best looking coin the U.S. Mint has produced since 1947!

[jtryka]

Personally, I hate the buffalo design, but the spouse Liberty coins are very nice and I am committed to buying every one of them.

[Conder101]

What is wrong with more Buffalo's?

(I apologize for the rant.)

 

What's wrong with 100 years of Lincoln, 76 years of Washington, 70 years of Jefferson and Monticello etc. The buffalo was a nice design, I don't happen to like it but I can understand its aesthetic appeal, but it is done, it has had its time an it is time to move on.

 

People, and institutions tend to go through stages. When they are young and vigorous they look forward and are innovative. In middle age they become less flexible, begin consolidating what they have and become more concerned with the status quo. In their old age they spend more and more time resisting change and looking to the past to their former glories eventually firmly embracing those times and pretending they still exist, living in a state of denial. This country shows a lot of signs that it is moving into that last stage. (I cringe every time someone says "If we can put a man on the Moon. . " People , we CAN"'T put a man on the Moon! If we wanted to put a man on the Moon now we would have two choices, redevelop and build all new technology which would take nearly ten year. Or put out the old blueprints and rebuild the old Apollo. And even that would take about six years because all of the old equipment for making it is gone as well. You would have to retool the whole program from the ground up. Thirty nine years arfter we went to the moon we now struggle to reach low earth orbit. We are racing trying to finish the space station before we retire the shuttle fleet in 2010. Just as we get it finished we won't have a way to reach it! So how will we use it? We plan on using the old Russian Soyuz rockets! "We put a man on the moon!". . .but we have to use 40+ year old Soviet technology to reach the space station.) But at any point it is possible to revitalize an institution with an infusion of "new blood", fresh ideas and for at least awhile regain that "Look Forward" attitude.

 

I agree that the designs coming out of the Mint today have for the most part been rather insipid. But the answer is not to cling to the good designs of almost a century ago. All that says is that we are stuck in the early 20th century. The answer is to get better artists. That was what the artist infusion plan was to do, but in the past the artists the mint used were medalists and sculptors. In the infusion program they are using artists trained in graphic design.

 

We need new designs, we need better designs, and probably better artists. We don't need to slavishly cling to the past.

[BillJones]

As a type collector I would like to have ONE Buffalo in each size. I have an example of the Buffalo one ounce gold coin, and I think that it is a beautiful coin.

 

The First Spouse coins are silly. They are nothing but contrived commemorative collector flypaper (or roach motel if you prefer) that honor some people who don’t deserve it. Dolly Madison - fine. Jame Pierce - you have to be kidding. It’s a prime example of how the mint has gone overboard with too many products to sell.