The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 8, February 20, 2005, Article 8

COIN DESIGNS LASTING A CENTURY

Regarding the subject of coin designs lasting 100 years or
more, as brought up by Dick Johnson in connection with the
subject of the U.S. Lincoln Cent, David Gladfelter writes:
"How about the enduring Schwenzer and Voigt designs on
the Swiss 5, 10 and 20 rappen pieces which go back to 1879?
You can still find a few 10 and 20 "raps" from the 1920s in
circulation but the old nickel 5s were withdrawn when the
composition of that denomination was changed to brass
about 1980. And the ½, 1 and 2 franc designs go back
even farther, to 1875. These designs are by Jean François
Antoine Bovy and are signed. I guess the Swiss don't make
changes easily. (Actually there was a change in the franc
design: A star was added for Canton Jura when it was
formed in 1979.)

David Lange writes: "There are several USA commemoratives,
both vintage and recent, that qualify, but one comes to mind
immediately. The Buffalo Silver Dollar issued in 2001 began
nearly ten years earlier as a silver "nickel" that would serve
as a fund raiser for our National Parks. When that theme
failed repeatedly to generate enough Congressional support,
it morphed into a bill to fund the Museum of the American
Indian. Evidently, that was more politically beneficial (and
right in Washington, DC), so the bill finally passed. Lost in
translation, however, was any reference to that theme on
the coin itself. Though the Indian bust and bison may be
seen as graphic representations of Native American life,
there is only statutory text on the coin, without any mention
of the museum."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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