Why the US Mint Needs to Go Old School to Save Our Coinage??

Let's face it, when it comes to our modern coinage, the US Mint is no longer winning the popularity contest of classic, etched in memory, designs.  Instead, what is generated on our monetary landscape, are countless low relief designs that are uninspiring to the eye.  And as thankfully as we can attribute the proper credit, our high tech machines and computers are making it all easy.  What I think is happening in this day and age, is a feeling of "content" in regards to how these coins are designed and laid out for a specific release.  There  really are not engravers preparing the final die plates, but only the conceptual cast molds.  The first initial mock up, is generally hand graved, but the final product becomes computer rendered and finally laser etched to prepare the final dies to be used in the minting process.  The transition began sometime in the mid-1980's at the advent of modern commemorative coinage.  Additionally, the heralded American Silver Eagle had been a by-product of computer generated design.

The Need To Go Back To Open Design Competitions


Let's take a step back in time for a moment...  George T. Morgan was the "go to" mint engraver for engineering some of the most wonderful designs in US coinage history.  After a lull in our dollar coin, the Morgan series proved to be an American icon.  It's what made the west, and it turned some pretty remarkable trademarks with the utilization of the unique New Orleans and Carson City facilities.  Morgan dollars have become some of the most sought after pieces to this day, not just because of the silver content, but of what symbol they have created in the 19th century.  What Morgan and Barber accomplished, opened a wide door for future opportunities within the craft of engraving and design.  And the beginning of open design competitions paved the way for overnight success for would be artists that want a piece of the pie.  The treasury department recognized this and quickly sent out broadcasts for the next series, and the next and so on.

Our early US commemorative coinage launched the campaign of "outside" artists to test their skills at designing some of the storied pieces we collect today.  Give credit to James Earle and Laura Gardin Fraser for masterpiecing what would become the most popular of such coin, the Oregon Trail Commemorative.  The pair won the rights to design the master concept for the coin, a splendid obverse of a wagon riding through the prairie sun while the reverse has a backdrop of the United States with the depiction of an indian with an outstretched arm to stop these travelers.  Today, it's the consumate key piece that most collectors want in any grade.  This is what today's coins need, symbolic, traditional, high relief, and unique content to symbolize our coinage.  We need to go out and find our talent in the field, to this day, there are many more willing professionals that want the chance to make an impact in today's numismatics.  In the end, the coins don't need to be silver anymore, but they do need to be works of art that inspires tangible thought about what America needs it's roots to return to.