Thankfully the United States actually issues only a small amount of numismatic garbage, primarily in the form of the various "Eagle" programs: the Silver American Eagle, Gold American Eagle, and Platinum American Eagle (there may be a Palladium American Eagle program too). The SAE uses Adolf Weinman's Walking Liberty design on the obverse and John Mercanti's heraldic eagle design on the reverse (why they didn't go with a redenominated original reverse is beyond me).
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| original Walking Liberty obverse (left), original WL reverse (center), and SAE reverse (right) |
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| original St. Gaudens obverse (left), original St. Gaudens reverse (center), and GAE reverse (right) |
And finally, there's the Platinum American Eagle program which features the Statue of Liberty on the obverse which, in my opinion, would have made a suitable obverse for the State Quarter Program if Congress could get over its dead Presidents obsession. The program has a standard obverse but the proofs feature new designs each year.
The palladium series, if it ever gets off the ground will feature Weinman's other design, the Winged Liberty or "Mercury" Dime.
I have a problem with these issues being called coins. They were never intended to circulate and for me, that's Strike One against calling these glorified medallions coins. It's dishonest for the government to be issuing money that was never intended to be used in commerce. Now commemorative coins don't circulate either (there have been exceptions where unsold coins were deposited at banks), but there's a key difference: commemorative coins are made to original specifications whereas the above cited "coins" are not which brings me to Strike Two.
The second strike against these issues is their metal content. The SAEs are pure silver as are the Gold Buffalos pure gold and the PAEs pure platinum. Only the GAEs are 90% pure gold like the original pre-Gold Recall gold coins. Never has the United States issued such pure precious metal coinage. Silver coins were made with a 90% silver/10% copper alloy and platinum coins were never part of America's coinage. The American Eagle program is a bullion program, not a coin one. Instead of selling purified metals as bars with the relevant information stamped on them, they were struck as "coins" instead. In addition to their purity, they have also been released in weights that have no historical precedence. Silver dollars contained 0.7737 troy ounce of silver, not one ounce. Double eagles ($20 gold coins, the largest issued) contained 0.9677 troy ounce of gold, not one ounce.
Strike Three is their fictive denominations. The SAEs are "ONE DOLLAR". Since 1986, when they were first issued, silver has never been lower than $3.50/tr.oz. Giving them a denomination of ONE DOLLAR meant these coins not only were never intended to circulate, but that they never could circulate. Even today, with silver approaching, and sometimes over, $30/tr.oz., these "coins" are still issued with ONE DOLLAR face values. Giving them a denomination of TEN DOLLARS at the time would have been more sensible (though their "circulation era" would have ended in 2006) and would have shown that the government was issuing these bullion products in genuine good faith. I don't think the Mint should be in the business of making money which cannot circulate except at a (severe) loss to the purchaser. The ONE DOLLAR denomination is basically a guarantee by the United States that no matter what happens, that coin will be honored at face value...but it's a promise they'll never have to honor because nothing will cause silver to dip below $1/tr.oz.
The situation is even more laughable with the GAEs. The one ounce version is $50; the half ounce is $25; the quarter ounce is $10; and the tenth ounce is $5. Did you notice that? Who thought it reasonable to have four quarter ounces add up to less than one full ounce? Not to mention, like the SAEs, gold has never been low enough in the modern era to justify those denominations. Giving the one ounce "coins" a face value of $500 when the series debuted in 1986 would have been more sensible as well as spendable (right up until sometime in 2006 anyway). Secondarily, instead of the quarter-ounce GAE, they should have made it one-fifth of an ounce so that the fictive denominations would have made sense.
The PAEs have a top fictive value of $100, but I don't even care about that series because of the aforementioned reason.
The Gold Buffalos could have been better if the motto "In God We Trust" as well as the information about the metal's purity were moved to the edge of the coin and if said edge were smooth. The original Buffalo Nickel was smooth-edged, not reeded like this bullion issue. But that's politics for you. As for its face value, by the time this "coin" was proposed, gold had already surpassed $500/tr.oz. Giving it a $1000 top face value would have made sense at the time, but even that value would become obsolete in just a few years. Why the Gold Buffalos did not replace the GAE design is beyond me. More politics I suppose...
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| Buffalo nickel obverse (left), Buffalo nickel reverse (center), and Gold Buffalo reverse (right) |
But like I've said, this is actually reasonable when compared to mints around the world which issue tons of garbage using all sorts of gimmicks like multiple metals, stupid themes, colorized coins, holograms, embedded crystals, curious shapes (like guitars - not joking)...it's ridiculous. Canada, our neighbor to the north, is a huge offender (see for yourself). Anything to gouge idiot collectors.
Despite the "legal tender status", these coins don't, and in all likelihood, can't circulate (even if you were willing to take the huge loss for having done so since you have to pay far more than the face value stated on the coin to own one of these metal disks).
Like I've said, I'm glad the United States has stayed largely out of this mess but they're guilty too. Take the annual proof sets that get issued. I don't care that there are subsets like "quarters only" and "dollar coins only": that's fine. Originally you could order proof coins individually so that's whatever to me. What bothers me is the silver proof set. In that set, those coins which were originally silver (the dime, quarter, and half-dollar), take on their pre-1965 90% silver alloy composition. These sets first were issued in 1992. To me, they're dishonest. Proof sets should reflect the actual composition of what coins are circulating, not this fantasy they're peddling. There's also the matter of "First Spouse" gold coins being issued as companions to the Presidential Dollar series. They contain a half-ounce of pure gold with a fictive value of $10. I shake my head in disappointment that this program not only exists but perpetuates the problems cited above.
World governments are gonna do what they're gonna do, it's their sovereignty. However, I think it would do the United States good to not cheapen its image by issuing garbage. Leave the garbage to those world mints lacking in prestige and worldly clout. The U.S. should be above such nonsense and could go further by correcting its current abuses such as:
Scrapping the mint set. Unless each mint is willing to provide an example of each circulation strike at face value plus postage, it should not be in the business of selling coins one is supposed to be finding in circulation. Collectors would certainly cry foul but I think it a form of cheating to get one's coins for the year this way. The joy is in the finding.
Scrapping the silver proof set for the reasons mentioned above.
Cease minting coins specifically for collectors. The primary offenders here are half dollars and dollar coins, neither of which circulate significantly. Yet each year after 2001 for both denominations, the coins have been produced for collectors. I might overlook it if the coins were made available at face value plus postage but they are sold at a premium. Coins used to have gaps in their production when they weren't needed. This practice should be allowed to continue. There's no shame in having gaps. It gives coin sets character. I would never advocate for these denominations to cease production altogether, but if they are not needed in commerce they should not be produced. Let production resume when they are needed.
Immediately terminating the First Spouse program, or at the very least, when it ends...that's the last one of that sort ever. And if it were terminated, have it come with an offer to buy back the coins either for what the collector paid or the current sale price (plus shipping), whichever is higher as an apology.
Scrap the Platinum American Eagle program since platinum was never a circulating coin metal.
Remove the face values from the Silver American Eagle and Gold American Eagle bullion pieces. Their current face values are ridiculous, never having come close to reflecting reality. Instead of fictive values, just state their bullion content. I really can't believe having a guaranteed nonsense value on them is what really makes the difference and if it for some reason does, then change the law so that they can't sell for more than face value plus postage. That way, a reasonable value will be assigned to them.
Stop letting the U.S. Mint sell marginally related products. There should not be teddy bears with Sacagawea dollars mounted on (in?) them for sale. There shouldn't be "birth year" sets. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing should be selling nothing except sheets of uncut currency. Such sheets seem to be the BEP's equivalent of a proof set. Everything else is garbage...drop it. These institutions should be dignified and I don't see how offering overpriced toys and other gimmicky shit helps preserve that dignity. Selling overpriced shit to the idiot populace is something I associate with museum gift shops, bodegas, and souvenir stands...not the institutions charged with making the most secure money on the planet.
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