It doesn't even look like FDR ...

[BillJones]

As a dealer and collector I have been surprised at how unpopular the presidential dollar series has been. Back when I was a dealer I made the mistake of buying five of the 2007 presidential dollar Proof sets for resale. I sold only one set to a collector. When I retired I sold the rest virtually for face value and had a hard time doing that.

 

Why are these coins so unpopular with collectors? Part of the answer is that they are made of base metal and very prone to spotting because the alloy from which they are made is unstable. Another reason is that some of the presidential portraits are either unattractive or in the case of this FDR dollar, unrecognizable. If it didn't say "Franklin D. Roosevelt" above his head, you recognize this man as FDR? I don't. It looks like a generic picture of someone's grandfather to me.

 

Here is the coin followed by a some pieces that were issued during FDR's time as president.

 

 

Here is a very handsome New Deal medal that was issued in the 1930s.

 

 

And here is an National Recovery Act (NRA) token that was inexpensively made during FRD's first term. The strike is not very sharp, but you can tell who is on the obverse.

 

 

Here is a jugate (presidential and vice presidential candidates side by side) of FDR an Garner from their 1932 campaign. The "repeal" refers to the 18th Amendment, Prohibition against alcoholic beverages.

 

 

This jugate was from 1940 when Roosevelt ran with Henry Wallace.

 

 

And a jugate from 1944 when he ran with Harry Truman.

 

 

These two FDR pieces were issued in 1944. The Liberal Party was organized in New York City in 1944 as a counterbalance to the American Labor Party, which was a socialist group. The Liberal Party has continued to run candidates since then. They often nominate the Democratic Party candidate, but when they view the Democratic nominee as too conservative, they will select a candidate of their own. I'll go into the 1970 New York senate race, which was unusual, if there is interest.

 

 

FDR is recognizable to me in every one of these political items, but I'm hard pressed to spot him on the 2014 dollar !

[cpm9ball]

What I disliked the most about the Prez dollars is the edge lettering. It just looks sloppy!

 

Chris

[CaptHenway]

Gack! Did they run the Truman portrait by mistake?

 

That is terrible. Add the horrible laser-etched frosting used on Proofs these days and you have an unrecognizable blob.

 

TD

[RWB]

Awful! Agree--it looks more like Truman. So much work went into the dime portrait; but this looks like a cookie cutter job. Difficult to accept that the CCAC approved this thing.

[Mr. Smith Guesser]

Agreed. The 2007 FDR presidential dollar makes Roosevelt look constipated.

 

And I'm not trying to make push any political perspective with this... But I wonder if the unflattering image of Roosevelt was a purposeful political move. There is a precedent for such things throughout world history. The first thing that comes to mind is the Jacques-Louis David painting of The Coronation of Napoleon, which portrayed Napoleon as much taller and Joséphine de Beauharnais as much younger and beautiful than they both were in reality, among other things.

 

More on that here: http://www.museumsecrets.tv/dossier.php?o=67

[RWB]

The CCAC is largely non-political.

[Mr. Smith Guesser]

It was just a thought. There are some who believe Reagan should be replace FDR on the dime. I was thinking perhaps it could be an extension of that.

[RWB]

...any Reagan coin would have to be Teflon coated.

[cpm9ball]

Awful! Agree--it looks more like Truman. So much work went into the dime portrait; but this looks like a cookie cutter job. Difficult to accept that the CCAC approved this thing.

 

CCAC: A group of people whose philosophy is, "Those who can - do! Those who can't - teach!" And, it is presumed that they can't do anything.

 

Chris

[coinman_23885]

I have seen a couple of pictures of FDR that favor the coin image. It's not that bad.

[RWB]

The CCAC does not create designs ....they can only recommend or not recommend.

[oih82w8]

The NRA Token has the "N" in "A New Deal" backwards.

[johnny9434]

that looks more like Bumsfeld or Rumsfeld (however ya spell it) and Truman. go figure

[BillJones]

It was just a thought. There are some who believe Reagan should be replace FDR on the dime. I was thinking perhaps it could be an extension of that.

 

No, I don't think that had anything to do with it. It's just bad government art.

 

Does anyone remember the 2010 Lincoln dollar? The look from his eyes made it seem that he really DID come back as a good vampire, like he did in Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter.

 

[BillJones]

The NRA Token has the "N" in "A New Deal" backwards.

 

When it came to the NRA program that was poetic justice. The program was quite backward because it created a government sponsored cartel among member businesses to keep prices high and discourage price competition. Thank goodness the Supreme Court decided against it. The case concerned a chicken processing company that was located in Brooklyn, New York that dared to charge less than carter regulated prices.

[moneyhoney]

No, it sure doesn't. There is a good resemblance in the last photos. The 2014, who is that? Not FDR

[Conder101]

CCAC: A group of people whose philosophy is, "Those who can - do! Those who can't - teach!" And, it is presumed that they can't do anything.

Not a very nice thing to say in response to someone who was a member of the CACC.

 

Does anyone remember the 2010 Lincoln dollar? The look from his eyes made it seem that he really DID come back as a good vampire, like he did in Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter.

He looks better than he did in all the mint artwork for the coin before it came out. He looked really weird with two left eyes.

[CaptHenway]

CCAC: A group of people whose philosophy is, "Those who can - do! Those who can't - teach!" And, it is presumed that they can't do anything.

Not a very nice thing to say in response to someone who was a member of the CACC.

 

+1

[rrantique]

Does anyone remember the 2010 Lincoln dollar? The look from his eyes made it seem that he really DID come back as a good vampire, like he did in Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. (thumbs u