The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 51, December 16, 2007, Article 25

VIEWPOINT: CIRCULATING COINS DESERVE QUALITY DESIGNS

[Citizens Coin Advisory Committee member Gary B. Marks
authored a great Viewpoint article on circulating coin
designs which was published this week on Numismaster.
Here are some excerpts.  -Editor]

At the FIDEM Art Medal World Congress held in Colorado
Springs this past September, Mint Director Edmund Moy
gave what is clearly one of the most important and visionary
speeches ever delivered by a mint director. Moy boldly
announced his intent "to spark a neo-renaissance for coin
design and achieve a new level of design excellence."

Recognizing that the nation's currency "is part of what
defines America," Moy spoke of how Saint-Gaudens' 1907
Double Eagle had so successfully used allegorical
illustration to beautifully capture America's feelings
about itself and its aspirations for the future at the
turn of the 20th century.

Moy expressed his hope that "the world would reflect back
100 years from now and say that the beginning of the 20th
century was great, but the 21st century was even better."
Bravo! As an American patriot, a life-long coin collector
and a lover of art, I applaud Moy's visionary call for
renewed greatness in American coinage design.

Moy sees opportunities to "raise the bar of design excellence
in American coinage and medallic art" within a modern rendition
of Lady Liberty on his own Mint director's medal, upcoming
designs for the American Eagle platinum proof coin series,
the 2008 American Bald Eagle commemorative program and
various medals.

Moy can count on me to stand with him in striving for his
visionary and worthwhile goals. And, I suspect that coin
collectors and medallic art fans throughout the United
States share my support of Moy's efforts. But as we work
to "raise the bar," let's also take the renaissance beyond
the confines of the commemorative collector and precious
medals investor and out to the American people at large.
Let's introduce inspiring allegorical imagery to the masses
through our circulating coinage. Let's revolutionize our
circulating coins with modern depictions of "Lady Liberty,"
"America" and other creative allegorical images. Truly, if
the world will look back 100 years from now and recognize
the beginning of the 21st century as a "renaissance" in
coinage design, it will be largely because the design
revolution was taken to the American people. Only when a
new image of Lady Liberty shows up in change at the grocery
store check-out, rattles into the coin return of the vending
machine, or is slid under the teller's window to a surprised
and delighted bank customer will the "world" take notice and
recognize the neo-renaissance of American coinage.

To read the complete article, see:
http://www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/Article.jsp?ad=article&ArticleId=3512

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

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