Themes 1 1

[Zebo]

   I just finished completing a fairly in depth and lengthy survey for the Royal Mint. One of the questions focused on what themes you would like to see issued on future coins. In subsequent questions they provided a number of different themes - a few of them made me nauseous, but there were some reasonable ones as well. 
  They also asked whether the issuing authority was an important consideration or not. I believe it is, but that’s just me.

  Another interesting question dealt with crown dependencies and Territories. All in all, a fairly good survey. 
    What themes, if any, would you like to see on coins? 

Edited November 18, 2021 by Zebo

[RWB]

The US Mint has been trying a similar approach, although in a more insular manner than the Royal Mint. The current "Innovation Series" is largely a boondoggle of prosaic-mediocraty for what might have been truly imaginative design and execution. As for commemoratives, I feel there is too much influence from sponsors - most are happy with their logo just as if they were selling corn flakes. That makes creative, interesting designs much more difficult to produce and implement.

[Mohawk]

I myself would like animals.  Birds, sharks, other kinds of fish....things like that.  For the U.S., I've always thought that a series of coins depicting the various state birds would be really cool.  I know that there are some states which have the same state bird, but the coins could have different depictions of the same birds in those cases.  I think such a series would be vastly superior to any of the multiple design coin programs the U.S. Mint has done since 1999.  Especially the Presidential Dollars......man, are those things ugly!!  And who doesn't like animals?  I think coins depicting animals would appeal to a very wide community of collectors.

Edited November 18, 2021 by Mohawk
Typo

[Fenntucky Mike]

I'm really having a hard time thinking of an original theme that hasn't already been churned out. In general I'm with Tom, who doesn't like animals or flora for that matter.  Maybe a yearly issue of historic gardens, with a Monty Don bust.  Issuing authority has little to no meaning to me, as an initial draw to interest me in a coin or series. In general mints will produce as many series as is possible to draw in as many collectors as is possible and most themes have been done to death. 

[Just Bob]

On 11/18/2021 at 5:01 PM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I'm really having a hard time thinking of an original theme that hasn't already been churned out.

I had the same thought.

[Fenntucky Mike]

Forgot. I do, on occasion, enjoy depictions of coins on coins for some reason.  Images of banknotes on coins might interest me if done right or classic images/designs from banknotes applied to coins could be interesting. 

[VKurtB]

On 11/18/2021 at 10:54 AM, Mohawk said:

I myself would like animals.  Birds, sharks, other kinds of fish....things like that.  For the U.S., I've always thought that a series of coins depicting the various state birds would be really cool.  I know that there are some states which have the same state bird, but the coins could have different depictions of the same birds in those cases.  I think such a series would be vastly superior to any of the multiple design coin programs the U.S. Mint has done since 1999.  Especially the Presidential Dollars......man, are those things ugly!!  And who doesn't like animals?  I think coins depicting animals would appeal to a very wide community of collectors.

There is one fellow who regularly exhibits animal themes at ANA shows. It requires going international in scope. He does both coins and notes. 

[Woods020]

I wish they would do a “retro” series that honors the time when coins were truly artistic. Not to do a replica like the current Morgan’s & Peace dollars, but true to period art. They could do designs that were submitted, strongly considered, and narrowly beaten out for another design. Or they could have artists truly engrave using the older techniques picturing art from the time. We all talk about designs have went down hill considerably over time. It seems logical they would try a theme to combat that. 

[bsshog40]

I think I could enjoy seeing a theme featuring cathedrals. There have been soo many medals depicting these that have awesome artwork. I think coins with same type of artwork would go over well. 

[Hoghead515]

Im with @Mowhawk on this one. Be great to have some animals. Each states bird or an animal thats big in that state. Or even some reptiles and fish. 

[Mohawk]

On 11/18/2021 at 9:17 PM, Hoghead515 said:

Im with @Mowhawk on this one. Be great to have some animals. Each states bird or an animal thats big in that state. Or even some reptiles and fish. 

I love all three, Hog!! I'd be in for any of those series for sure.  Those would be the exact kind of thing that would get me back collecting a U.S. coin series.  As it stands, I actually do own a silver proof of each State Quarter that features a bird.  In looking at the other multiple reverse designs, just my humble, personal opinions here, the State Quarter series was a great idea but plagued with artwork of questionable quality.  There were hits, but far more misses with that program.  The America the Beautiful quarters were an improvement aesthetically overall, but there were still some bad designs in there.  The Presidential Dollars were UGLY.  They were so ugly that the ugly for them had to be all caps and boldface.  Also, I'm not into stuff with presidents on it in general, personally.  Don't U.S. coins already have enough of that?  I think if someone wants to collect U.S. presidents, there are plenty of nice presidential medals sold by the U.S. Mint to satisfy their collecting wants.  The U.S. Mint is even doing the damned things in silver now.  The Innovation Dollars, they're better but they're not being released into circulation and it's still early days with the program, too.  Plenty of time for the U.S. Mint to ugly those up like they did the State Quarters.  And the American Women quarters are destroyed right out of the gate by the resurrection of the dreadfully hideous portrait of Washington by Laura Gardin Fraser.  So, in my opinion, I already know that I find one side of those horrendously, disgustingly ugly, so why would I be interested in collecting them?  It's just more of the same old type of ugly from the U.S. Mint.  Not only is it yet another presidential portrait, It's a very bad one this time. A VERY bad one that should never see the light of day again.  We need something fresh and new and I think a nice series with animals would be just the thing.  

Edited November 19, 2021 by Mohawk

[Mohawk]

On 11/18/2021 at 6:30 PM, VKurtB said:

There is one fellow who regularly exhibits animal themes at ANA shows. It requires going international in scope. He does both coins and notes. 

That's very cool, Kurt.  I myself have a thematic international collection of coins featuring different birds.  I'm considering getting into notes that picture them, too. I love all animals, but birds hold a very special place in my heart.  In addition to collecting coins, notes and exonumia, I'm also a birder.  I especially love raptors.

[jimbo27]

I would like to see more us coins depicting animals, more than the eagle and buffalo or bat. I have quite a few coins with animals from other countries so I posted some pictures. Sorry pics not that good.

[Fenntucky Mike]

On 11/18/2021 at 7:24 PM, Woods020 said:

Or they could have artists truly engrave using the older techniques

Yes, this. Just doing that would be an improvement to the current designs.

Side note: Did anyone else get a survey for the U.S. Mint yesterday?

Edited November 19, 2021 by Fenntucky Mike

[Zebo]

On 11/18/2021 at 7:24 PM, Woods020 said:

I wish they would do a “retro” series that honors the time when coins were truly artistic. Not to do a replica like the current Morgan’s & Peace dollars, but true to period art. They could do designs that were submitted, strongly considered, and narrowly beaten out for another design. Or they could have artists truly engrave using the older techniques picturing art from the time. We all talk about designs have went down hill considerably over time. It seems logical they would try a theme to combat that. 

I mentioned someting along those lines.

[Zebo]

On 11/18/2021 at 11:54 AM, Mohawk said:

I myself would like animals.  Birds, sharks, other kinds of fish....things like that.  For the U.S., I've always thought that a series of coins depicting the various state birds would be really cool.  I know that there are some states which have the same state bird, but the coins could have different depictions of the same birds in those cases.  I think such a series would be vastly superior to any of the multiple design coin programs the U.S. Mint has done since 1999.  Especially the Presidential Dollars......man, are those things ugly!!  And who doesn't like animals?  I think coins depicting animals would appeal to a very wide community of collectors.

I did mention wildlife - always a popular series.

[Zebo]

On 11/18/2021 at 8:43 PM, bsshog40 said:

I think I could enjoy seeing a theme featuring cathedrals. There have been soo many medals depicting these that have awesome artwork. I think coins with same type of artwork would go over well. 

I did not mention this as it did not occur to me at the moment - but I like the idea (a lot).

[Morpheus1967]

I would like to see  a series featuring scientists/inventors.  People who have truly contributed to bettering our lives.  Einstein, Tesla, Curie, Turing, Newton, Darwin, Hawking, Galileo to name a few. (Edison if you have to, but at a lower denomination than the rest lol.)  Even some of the old school thinkers.  DaVinci, Michelangelo, Aristotle, Archimedes etc.  

[World Colonial]

Other than to make money, why does the US or any other mint have to strike so many coins?

I believe that collectors would find a particular theme, coin, or series more interesting and meaningful if it wasn't buried in a sea of endless mediocrity.

Decades from now, most NCLT is destined to be relegated to the dustbin of obscurity and mostly forgotten.

[VKurtB]

On 11/18/2021 at 9:08 PM, Mohawk said:

That's very cool, Kurt.  I myself have a thematic international collection of coins featuring different birds.  I'm considering getting into notes that picture them, too. I love all animals, but birds hold a very special place in my heart.  In addition to collecting coins, notes and exonumia, I'm also a birder.  I especially love raptors.

If you ever get the urge to exhibit at an ANA show, I can point you to the proper resources to do it well. 

[VKurtB]

On 11/19/2021 at 6:20 AM, Zebo said:

I did not mention this as it did not occur to me at the moment - but I like the idea (a lot).

Hey Zebo, I hope the CC Morgan met with your quality approval. My apologies again for the delay.

[Hoghead515]

On 11/19/2021 at 8:59 AM, Morpheus1967 said:

I would like to see  a series featuring scientists/inventors.  People who have truly contributed to bettering our lives.  Einstein, Tesla, Curie, Turing, Newton, Darwin, Hawking, Galileo to name a few. (Edison if you have to, but at a lower denomination than the rest lol.)  Even some of the old school thinkers.  DaVinci, Michelangelo, Aristotle, Archimedes etc.  

That came to my mind also. 

[Hoghead515]

On 11/19/2021 at 10:34 AM, World Colonial said:

Other than to make money, why does the US or any other mint have to strike so many coins?

I believe that collectors would find a particular theme, coin, or series more interesting and meaningful if it wasn't buried in a sea of endless mediocrity.

Decades from now, most NCLT is destined to be relegated to the dustbin of obscurity and mostly forgotten.

Thats a very good point and something ive thought about from time to time. I think if they would do shorter runs of coins it would make it alot more interesting. 

[VKurtB]

On 11/19/2021 at 9:34 AM, World Colonial said:

Other than to make money, why does the US or any other mint have to strike so many coins?

I believe that collectors would find a particular theme, coin, or series more interesting and meaningful if it wasn't buried in a sea of endless mediocrity.

Decades from now, most NCLT is destined to be relegated to the dustbin of obscurity and mostly forgotten.

I don’t agree. The classic Commems haven’t done that, and at least LATELY the modern mintages are kind of similar. 

[VKurtB]

On 11/19/2021 at 10:19 AM, Hoghead515 said:

Thats a very good point and something ive thought about from time to time. I think if they would do shorter runs of coins it would make it alot more interesting. 

It would also create more mint ordering snafus.

[Hoghead515]

On 11/19/2021 at 11:24 AM, VKurtB said:

It would also create more mint ordering snafus.

Very true. 

[Zebo]

On 11/19/2021 at 11:11 AM, VKurtB said:

Hey Zebo, I hope the CC Morgan met with your quality approval. My apologies again for the delay.

that will work out nicely. 

[Mohawk]

On 11/19/2021 at 11:09 AM, VKurtB said:

If you ever get the urge to exhibit at an ANA show, I can point you to the proper resources to do it well. 

If I can ever make it to an ANA show, Kurt, I'll be taking you up on that very kind offer for sure   

[Zebo]

I’ve thought about exhibiting at the ANA, but…. 

[World Colonial]

On 11/19/2021 at 11:24 AM, VKurtB said:

I don’t agree. The classic Commems haven’t done that, and at least LATELY the modern mintages are kind of similar. 

Not sure where you disagree.

Obviously, all NCLT is owned by someone unless it's literally lost.

I'd describe the US classic commemorative series collector as predominantly a hole filler.  A large series where the majority of coins have little if any actual connection, disproportionately uninteresting themes which most people have never heard of or know nothing about, and which isn't even close to being scarce.  A full set still sells for over five figures in practically any decent quality (like an MS-63) which is hardly cheap for what is actually being bought.

The mintage of most NCLT is not actually low.  The mintages of US classic commemoratives aren't low either.  It isn't low because the relevant comparison isn't circulating coinage but other NCLT or maybe proofs.  Virtually no one is buying any NCLT as a substitute for circulated circulating coinage.  In "high quality", most NCLT is not scarcer outside of the most common circulating coinage.  Outside of US proofs dated from 1950 onwards, only a very low proportion have comparable mintages to most NCLT.

As for "forgotten", I was also speaking in a financial context.  Virtually none of this coinage "stands out" and I expect most of it to sell for nominal premiums to the spot price decades from now, once the asset bubble ends because that's the primary if not only factor holding it up now, especially on 70's.