Your Thoughts on the 2015 March of Dimes Commemorative Design?

[Mr. Smith Guesser]

I'm not sure how I missed the announcement, but the design for the 2015 March of Dimes Commemorative was approved 10/30/14. Here is the approved design:

 

 

What are your thoughts on the design?

 

I like the obverse better than the reverse. But I thought there were better choices for both.

 

The rest of the design candidates are here: http://www.coinnews.net/2014/05/19/2015-march-of-dimes-silver-dollar-designs-recommended/

 

Here was the CFA's recommendation:

 

And here was the CCAC's recommendation:

 

This is the obverse that I liked:

 

And one of these for the reverse:

[brg5658]

Just a few thoughts:

 

1) The March of Dimes was founded in 1938. 2015 is the 77th Anniversary, not 75th. It seems an odd year to issue a commemorative.

 

2) I'm glad they didn't pick one of the designs with the DNA double helix. The structure of DNA as a double helix wasn't discovered until the 1950s (well after FDR was dead). It seems a very odd symbolism to be proposed for any of the designs.

 

3) One of the designs says "Celebrating 75 years Victory over Polio" -- the polio vaccine was introduced in 1957. That's not 75 years. Yes, the March of Dimes did a lot for improving the care of polio in children, but the "Victory" came when the vaccine made polio a disease of the past.

 

My overall thoughts: I don't really like any of the designs enough that I'd be compelled to purchase one of the commemorative coins.

 

 

[RWB]

The CFA selection is fussy, busy and cluttered....too much "stuff" stuffed in.

 

I prefer the CCAC version.

[RWB]

PS: The March of Dimes/Infantile Paralysis evolved from the annual birthday dinner held for President Roosevelt.

[CaptHenway]

I like the CFA's recommendation. I still have two of my old leg braces from when I was small and needed them to walk.

 

I love the March of DImes. When I was 8 they paid for the surgery that allowed me to walk without a brace. I contribute to them every year. Please do also.

 

That said, the design chosen is terrible. I will not buy the coin. I'll just give them an extra $10.

[physics-fan3.14]

I don't mind the reverse, but what has it got to do with anything?

 

And the obverse is just hideous. Ridiculous.

 

Almost any of the other choices would have been better - and that's a refrain that seems to be repeated for almost all modern coins.

[World Colonial]

I like MOD-O-18 but don't believe they need to issue a coin at all.

[coinman_23885]

Just a few thoughts:

 

1) The March of Dimes was founded in 1938. 2015 is the 77th Anniversary, not 75th. It seems an odd year to issue a commemorative.

 

2) I'm glad they didn't pick one of the designs with the DNA double helix. The structure of DNA as a double helix wasn't discovered until the 1950s (well after FDR was dead). It seems a very odd symbolism to be proposed for any of the designs.

 

3) One of the designs says "Celebrating 75 years Victory over Polio" -- the polio vaccine was introduced in 1957. That's not 75 years. Yes, the March of Dimes did a lot for improving the care of polio in children, but the "Victory" came when the vaccine made polio a disease of the past.

 

 

+1

 

Also, Polio is a RNA virus, so it would have been odd for sure.

[CaptHenway]

I don't mind the reverse, but what has it got to do with anything?

 

And the obverse is just hideous. Ridiculous.

 

Almost any of the other choices would have been better - and that's a refrain that seems to be repeated for almost all modern coins.

 

Having conquered polio, the March of Dimes sought a new mission and decided to lead the fight against birth defects and premature births. They have made progress in both. If you look at the size of the infant compared to the hand, I would say that that is a premature baby.

 

However, it is ludicrous that Roosevelt and Dr. Jonas Salk are not identified on the obverse, and that there is no legend such as "to promote healthy babies" or the like on the reverse.

[coinman_23885]

However, it is ludicrous that Roosevelt and Dr. Jonas Salk are not identified on the obverse, and that there is no legend such as "to promote healthy babies" or the like on the reverse.

 

I agree. Also, most people are familiar with Salk's work, but few could probably identify his picture.

[Walkerfan]

I don't care for any of those coins but I like the CCAC's recommendation the best. The MOD is a good organization, though, and it deserves to be observed/recognized/commemorated.

[moneyhoney]

I recalled reading an article in regards that FDR didn't have polio.

Scientists are now saying he had Guillain-Barre syndrome. A syndrome is a disease with many symptoms FDR didn't have polio, Some scientists now say President Roosevelt was in a wheelchair because of Guillain-Barre syndrome, not polio.

Some scientists now say President Roosevelt was in a wheelchair because of Guillain-Barre syndrome, not polio.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the four-term president who directed his sweeping social policies from his wheelchair, may not have been struck by polio but instead by Guillain-Barre syndrome, researchers said Friday.

The symptoms of Roosevelt's illness, which first became apparent in 1921, more closely resembled those of Guillain-Barre, also known as acute ascending polyneuritis, a team at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston said.

It is believed to be an autoimmune disease -- one in which the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. It occurs after a mild infection, surgery or, rarely, after an immunization.

Either way, the diagnosis made no difference for Roosevelt -- there were no good treatments for either disease in 1921. He was president from 1933 until he died in 1945 of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Writing in the Journal of Medical Biography, pediatrician Dr. Armond Goldman and colleagues said some of Roosevelt's symptoms did resemble those of polio, which is caused by a virus that can leave crippling side-effects.

They include his fever when he first became ill and the permanent paralysis of some lower muscles.

But others "were inconsistent with paralytic poliomyelitis that affects motor neurons but were typical of Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disease that damages sensory and motor nerves," Goldman said in a statement.

For instance, FDR was 39 when the disease struck (polio usually affects younger people), his paralysis affected both sides of the body evenly, he had partial facial paralysis early on, numbness, extreme prolonged pain and bladder and bowel dysfunction.

Patients with mild to moderate Guillain-Barre syndrome usually recover entirely, but severe disease can cause permanent paralysis and even death, especially if not treated, Goldman's team said.

"No one can be absolutely sure of the cause of Roosevelt's paralysis because relevant laboratory diagnostic studies were not performed or were not available at the time of his illness," Goldman said.

There are no diagnostic tests for Guillain-Barre but it is assessed on the basis of its symptoms. With polio, a test of the fluid found in the spinal cord can confirm the diagnosis.

 

 

 

 

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[Bob Flaminio]

The approved design is OK. Not bad, not great -- but OK.

 

I feel it is a missed opportunity to not commemorate the March of Dimes with a commemorative dime. Something circulating like the L&C nickels of 2004-05 and the pennies of 2009.