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Politics : Ask Michael Burke
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To: Don Lloyd who wrote (82786)8/9/2000 5:23:33 AM
From: Bilow  Read Replies (2) of 132070
 
Hi Don Lloyd; One of the reasons that the US kept the appearance of its coins and bills identical for so many years after 1965 is that when they dropped out the silver and gold backing they were afraid of losing the public's association of wealth with cash. The longest runs for US coins in our numismatic history are all the current coin types. It used to be that they changed the coin (i.e. from Winged Liberty dimes to Roosevelt dimes every 20 years or so. Now the penny obverse is 93 years old, the nickel dates to 1938, the dime to the end of WW2, and the quarter to 1932.

The same with the paper currency. It used to be that they would regularly change the figures on the currency. When they dropped the gold backing they propped it up with continuity, which is much cheaper. Now the public has so got used to fiat money that they are altering the quarters and redoing the paper money. (But still the dead presidents. I do miss the days when buffaloes, anonymous Indians, depictions of liberty, etc., graced our coins.)

The other long term change in the circulating bills and coin is that we now (except for the new dollar coin) have only dead presidents on our money. That is sort of midway between what a monarchy or empire does (put live leaders) and what a Republic does (put symbols of the country), and is also something that dates only to the 20th century.

I predict that they drop the penny within 5 years, and that they also alter the composition of the nickel at about the same time.

-- Carl
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