What post-WWII changes do you like, if any?

[Zoins]

A lot has happened to coins, tokens and medals since WWII but which recent changes do you like (if any)? I'm just using WWII as an arbitrary time delineator, it's close enough to the commonly used date for the start of US moderns (1964). Here are some post-WWII innovations that I can think of. As you go down the list, some of the things become more esoteric and used only for world NCLT.

 

- debased silver coins

- clad coins

- satin finish

- NCLT commems

- NCLT bullion coins

- ultra-low relief

- small dollars (thanks for reminding me EZ_E)

- maganese brass coins

- bimetal coins

- reverse proof

- colored/enameled coins

- coins with commercially licensed logos

- NCLT with non-circulating metals (platinum, palladium, titanium, red gold, etc.)

- NCLT with holograms

- NCLT made of transparent acrylic

- NCLT sets that form a mural when together

- NCLT with embedded stuff, e.g. parts of meteorites, vials of holy water, etc.

 

Have there been other innovations?

 

What about art style? When looking at past medals, many medals were done in art nouveau or art deco styles. Have there been any new art styles? Is engraving photos a style used on many modern US commems?

 

Do you prefer coins with any post-WWII innovations or design styles over coins from before WWII?

[TJ'S Coins]

Good questions!

 

I dislike low-relief and am not fond of clad coinage.

I prefer the art nouveau or art deco styles.

I like the strike quality and look of modern silver coins.

Satin finish is okay.

Reverse proofs are very cool.

I find some colored or enameled commemoratives attractive.

Holograms are disappointing they don't deliver on the promise.

 

I love high relief coins and medals in the traditional metals of copper, bronze, nickel, silver or gold. For circulating coins, give me pre-1964 anytime. For proof coin strike quality, I'll take the modern coins. For the beauty and artistry of commemorative coins I prefer the early silver and gold commemoratives. Overall, while there are some nice innovations in numismatics, give me the old time circulating coinage!

[World Colonial]

Interesting list but I personally either am indifferent or do not care for any of these except for bullion coins. This item is an improvement because it enables (particularly) individuals to own real money in standard and convenient form. For example, I was interested in buying palladium but until Canada came out with this Maple Leaf, it was only available in bar form.

 

Of course, if governments had not consistently debased the currency, then bullion coins would not be in demand or less so than they are today. By default then, I consider the worst innovation on your list to be clad coinage. Aside from economic considerations, it is at most a neutral from a collectibility standpoint..

 

Most of the innovations are unfamilar to me but for the ones I have seen such as holograms, many of those items do not even look like a real coin in my opinion. They look more like tokens, medals or "play" money.

 

On your second question (if I understand it correctly), the designs are frequently bland, uninspiring or just plain ugly, especially on many non-US coins.

[EZ_E]

- coins with commercially licensed logos

 

Wyoming State Quarter

 

What I find most disappointing is that there are no 38mm coins except for the Eisenhower dollar which ain't saying much.

 

Hmmm.... Question about metal debasement of coinage.

 

Considering an exponential population growth in the world and an exponential US gov't debt, would it have even been possible to continue backing dollars by silver and gold?

 

There is close to one trillion dollars of US coins and paper in existence. Yet we, as a country, are over ten trillion in debt. I think that it would have been impossible to back that many dollars with precious metals.

 

 

Comments?

[cladking]

I remember thinking when I started collecting half a century ago that I was cursed by being born in a time that people scoured pocket change leaving nothing for me to find. As bad as things were they seemed a hundred times worse when clad was introduced. It was ugly debased junk and good silver started disappearing almost immediately. If this weren't bad enough there was a date freeze in effect and it was believed all coins would be dated 1965 forever more. Suddenly things went from bad to far far worse.

 

As the years rolled by they added the dates back and soon enough started using mint marks again. The coins were still garbage and ubiquitous. A wise man would have saved them from the beginning as John J Pittman did, but it seemed a waste to me since they were still boring and the FED had the disconcerting habit of losing vast quantities of coins in storage which would suddenly appear in pristine condition. What was the point in collecting a coin that would be available forever or cornering the market if the FED was just going to release vast numbers later?

 

In 1972 I saw a story in the Chicago Tribune that the FED and mint were going to implement a policy of rotating their coin stock in accordance with FIFO accounting standards. This meant that by 1975 all the pre-'72 coins would be in circulation and soon after that they would become increasingly difficult to find. Almost as soon as I started collecting them I started finding and hearing of varieties and special issues. It was about 1978 that I realized I had been granted my wish of a universe of coins all to myself.

 

There's been a lot of water under the bridge since I started collecting clad and a huge number of changes. It has certainly become obvious that pocket change can't be made of silver anymore and this will be more obvious when silver prices increase further. Indeed, the only thing poised for more dramatic price increases than silver may be clad.

[Dcoin]

I like the idea of having lettered edges as we will soon see on the new dollars. This is pretty innovative and has not been seen for a century and a half.

[PerryHall]

The biggest change was when the US mint started to produce gold coins again. After 1933, most collectors thought they would never see this again.

[TJ'S Coins]

I like the idea of having lettered edges as we will soon see on the new dollars. This is pretty innovative and has not been seen for a century and a half.

 

My St. Gauden's Double Eagles are in TPG plastic but I believe they have lettered edging around the coin.

[Dcoin]

I like the idea of having lettered edges as we will soon see on the new dollars. This is pretty innovative and has not been seen for a century and a half.

 

My St. Gauden's Double Eagles are in TPG plastic but I believe they have lettered edging around the coin.

 

Really? I did know that St. G's has lettered edges. I'm not a gold bug so my knowledge is limited but you may well well be correct. Thanks for the correction