Community Voice Responses (Feb. 23, 2016)

From the Jan. 29 Numismatic News E-Newsletter:

Will the end of the Presidential dollar series make the coins more popular?

Here are some answers sent from our e-newsletter readers to Editor Dave Harper.

I think if the coins had been more widely accepted by the public there would be more interest. But I think as it is now the interest is limited to the coin collecting community. Phase out the $1 bill, as Canada did, and people will use the coins.

Paul Fehrenbach
Germantown, Wis.

No, it won’t as the series actually will never end. It will just be on hold until the next President is elected. I think the Mint didn’t think this through and should have been issuing two a year versus four.
What will they do next, vice presidents? I sure hope not. I think they need to start a rare coin series of all denominations. The U.S. Mint is in the business to make money so they should be thinking out of the box.

Michael McLoughlin
Germany

I would like to say that it’s a slap in the face for the last five Presidents, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and of course, Barack Obama.

I would also like to say that having an incomplete collection to me and all the other collectors is a slap in the face. Why are they stopping short of doing all the Presidents?

My opinion is that they should continue to do all the Presidents.

Bob D. Allen
Sacramento, Calif.

The coins have been ugly since they started. With a little circulation, they get much worse. No, I don’t think anything will help this series be more collectible.

Bruce Klosowsky
South St. Paul, Minn.

As long as the paper dollar continues to serve as U.S. currency, any dollar coins the U.S. Mint strikes will not circulate. Many nations throughout the world have made their coinage more functional except us. Furthermore, when the Mint decided to transfer the date to the rim on our dollar coins, it only further sealed the doom of the denomination’s popularity.

We still produce the same denominations as if we were still living in the 1930s when most necessary goods cost $ or less. There is virtually nothing that our coinage buys today except perhaps 15 minutes in a parking meter.

We are a nation that argues more about mottoes than functionality. As for artistry, that disappeared after 1948 when the Franklin half replaced the Walking Liberty half dollar. Even our modern commemoratives appear more illustrative than artistic if one compares them to many of the pre 1954 commemorative designs.

Because of the forgoing and despite being an ardent collector, I use credit cards exclusively, paying in full each month and believe that I am not alone in this respect. It is less time consuming than waiting in line while the occasional patron ahead of you counts out the change for every purchase.

Arno Safran
Address withheld

Yes, some will get more popular and some will fade into memory.

William Johnston
San Antonio, Texas

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