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This Is What Our Cash Could Look Like If It Didn't Celebrate Dead White Men


DreamFLight911

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Interesting.

 

Some of his reasoning is a bit suspect though;

 

Purrington told The Huffington Post that, in his research, he found that the nation's founders did not intend to be immortalized on bills, as they saw the practice as "monarchical." ........."But the original Congress saw a danger in venerating men on money."

 

The practice in England was to have the current monarch on its currency, obviously the Founders would not want their current president on its money. What Congress was opposed to was having a current(very much alive) president on its currency, which could tend to veneration of a living person and lead to monarchy or dictatorship.

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This in fact was its position "the Congress, declaring it a "monarchical" practice, refused to put an image of President Washington on its coins and instead substituted a figure of "Liberty".

 

So it was not about immortalizing dead men but venerating living men.

 

No one knows, as far as I am aware what Congress' opinion would have been on the future practice of honoring dead ex-presidents or founding fathers. I suspect that it had, in fact, none.

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As they should be. We should eliminate the $1 bill and issue (more) $1 coins, and then a $2 coin. I'd even support cancelling the $5 bill and issuing a $5 coin. And while we're at it, restore Liberty to the coins, rather than arguing about which party's dead president should be thereon. I've said it before and I'll say again that no President should be on a coin until at least a century has passed so that they can be put in proper historical perspective, rather than added in the heat or the politics of the moment.

 

The Presidential Dollar series is an appropriate exception since it's commemorating all the presidents and not memorializing just one. I can see my way clear to 'grandfathering' Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln. But I'd much really see Lady Liberty and other genuinely national symbols like the Bald Eagle, the Great Seal, or the flag returned to the coins -- or even some of the more obscure ones like the national flower (the rose) and the national tree (the oak).

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I really like the Native American Dollars. Perhaps Sacajawea could be replaced with an Eagle or a different animal every year commemorating the strong interrelationship the early peoples had with the animals of the land.

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My point wasn't to advance a position on whether to keep or discontinue the $1 bill. It was simply that like most common articles, $2 bill doesn't get mentioned at all. As for commemorative coins, it is a slippery slope on what to commemorate. I think the current Presidential coins and the 50 state quarters (and its successor) are really silly, but perhaps the exercise keeps a lot of people employed. Also, what next? It is that now we have an era of commemorative coins for a long time to come?

 

BTW, the dime and half dollar are the only ones that seem to have escaped some modification in the recent times. Even the penny and the nickel got a temporary makeover.

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My point wasn't to advance a position on whether to keep or discontinue the $1 bill. It was simply that like most common articles, $2 bill doesn't get mentioned at all. As for commemorative coins, it is a slippery slope on what to commemorate. I think the current Presidential coins and the 50 state quarters (and its successor) are really silly, but perhaps the exercise keeps a lot of people employed. Also, what next? It is that now we have an era of commemorative coins for a long time to come?

 

I know some of the coins that are minted by the US Mint are strictly profit makers, and some are actually used in commerce. But then there are those coins that are produced because they have been legislated and are seldom if ever used in commerce - The Presidential Dollar Series is a prime example. And most people would shake their heads "yes" that's true on that one. But these days the cent coin is also produced because of legislation vs. need. I don't know how many years it would take for the cent supply to dry up but I'm willing to bet it would be at least 10. So somebody is making money on these programs. I'm guessing the producers of the metal that goes into the blanks and the creators of the blanks and the transportation companies and the ...

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I know some of the coins that are minted by the US Mint are strictly profit makers, and some are actually used in commerce. But then there are those coins that are produced because they have been legislated and are seldom if ever used in commerce - The Presidential Dollar Series is a prime example. And most people would shake their heads "yes" that's true on that one. But these days the cent coin is also produced because of legislation vs. need. I don't know how many years it would take for the cent supply to dry up but I'm willing to bet it would be at least 10. So somebody is making money on these programs. I'm guessing the producers of the metal that goes into the blanks and the creators of the blanks and the transportation companies and the ...

 

Art, yes! Actually, I don't think it is in dispute that there are economic interests at the heart of theses programs. I am pretty sure even the $1 bill is subject to the same issue, as I understand that there is a single company that makes paper for the paper currency and would stand to lose a huge amount if the $1 was replaced by coins.

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  • 9 months later...

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