What is the most awful thing the US Mint has produced?

adamlaneus

The possibilities are too broad for a poll. It's an open ended question.


My vote:





Why? How did this start? I do not understand.

19Lyds

You mean these guys?

Simple, they started at the same place that these guys started.

Folks have been collecting collector spoons for a long, long time and it only stands to reason that the US Mint would want part of that action. Just like those Prosperity Sets which certain cultures collect.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing do it as well!

19Lyds

To answer your question, I think the worst thing the US Mint has produced is probably the *spoon* as well.

I guess we should be gratefull they don't sell coin rings huh?

adamlaneus

<< <i>Folks have been collecting collector spoons for a long, long time >>



I did not know this. A simple google search shows me collector spoons.

I still do not understand how collecting spoons started. It seems sublime and bizarre to me. There is a history I am missing here.

I guess if you collect cutlery, the spoon is the least sharp and threatening.

I'm not certain I would feel comfortable in a B+M store with a bunch of collectors waving knives around.



[edit] Toe rings did you say?

doh

SBAs

rays

<< <i>SBAs >>

19Lyds

<< <i>

<< <i>Folks have been collecting collector spoons for a long, long time >>



I did not know this. A simple google search shows me collector spoons.

I still do not understand how collecting spoons started. It seems sublime and bizarre to me. There is a history I am missing here.

I guess if you collect cutlery, the spoon is the least sharp and threatening.

I'm not certain I would feel comfortable in a B+M store with a bunch of collectors waving knives around.



[edit] Toe rings did you say? >>




Still........laughing...............<breathe>.......................<breathe>.............


There.


I remember collector spoons from the late 50's. I used to collect bells. Everytime the family went somewhere, we'd buy a bell. We turned into a bunch a ding-a-lings!

notwilight

I think collectors spoons got started as souvenirs in gift shops at vacation spots as a memorabilia for babies. Very popular with mothers. --Jerry

TwoSides2aCoin

7 years of bad luck

LickThoseStamps

I vote for the coin and die sets.

I bought a bunch before I figured out that the design was completely missing. I was expecting an X, or something, crossing out the design. Instead I got a bunch of worthless steel!

adamlaneus

Wow. You never know what you will learn on these threads.

I never looked closely enough at the quarter and die sets.

They have ground the design out of the die completely and each set contains essentially a featureless hardened steel slug.

That's crazy.


Yep, the SBA is an interesting tidbit too. I especially like how they had to mint it in 1999. Government miscommunication enshrined in metal.

And yet, I can still appreciate the SBAs somewhat when I compare it with spoons and hardened steel slugs. I do like the fact that the reverse design is sort of like a mini-Ike. That is cool.


Yep, Kennedy Halves. The coin that they forgot to stop making.


Good suggestions so far.

Walmann

My take on awful is when the Mint tries to add external elements beyond the coin itself , clearly the spoons are in that arena.

In addition to the spoons these two come to mind:

The Mint entered a new era of packaging with the Edison Commerative, the little bulb that lights with watch size battery included.

The Lewis and Clark Pouchs were one type of marketing ploy that made the packaging/accessory of greater importance than the coin.

Zoins

<< <i>The Mint entered a new era of packaging with the Edison Commerative, the little bulb that lights with watch size battery included. >>

At least the light bulb is in the packaging and not in the coin, like the Officially Licensed Corvette Dollars from Palau!

GFourDriver

The 2009 Lincoln cent

Blackhawk

The state quarter coin and die set has my vote.

fc

clad coins.

renman95

some modern commems and classic commems.
dead president coinage that has been flat since the 1970's
SBA
P-dollars/chuck-e-cheese tokens
2009 Sac, before this date I believe that the SAC is one this the best modern (for circulation) coins in the since the Franklin half.
...and others previously listed on this thread

Ren

Kareemofwheat

Almost everything!

Hotfootspin

Hey, my wife collects spoons. She inherited from her grandmother a *gorgeous* coffee table display
full of silver spoons. They are from places her grandparents and her great aunt and uncle visited
all over the world. Her great uncle was a bank president and he took a months-long safari through
Africa back in the 1930's when it was actually dangerous and when only bank presidents could do it.
They brought back silver spoons from everywhere they went.

I'll bet the value of her silver spoons rivals the value of my coin collection. She has extra insurance
on them.

This display is about 2 inches deep, has a glass top, and completely covers the coffee table in our
living room.

So my wife loves it when I get her a handful of state spoons every year for Christmas. They're not
silver, but they do have some historic significance that makes them appropriate for her collection.

Some of the state quarter spoons are quite rare. Try finding the North Carolina spoon. It's the only
one missing from our collection. It sells for about $700 when you can even find it. The New York
spoon is also quite expensive, but easier to find.

Saying the spoons are an awful product is sorta like saying Morgans are ugly, or Barbers are ugly,
or modern commemoratives are a waste. (All statements I happen to agree with.) It's all a matter
of taste. I think it's cool that the mint reaches out to people who aren't coin geeks with products
they might like.

The local B&M's around here all carry (at least a few, and sometimes many) collectible silver spoons
along with coins. Seems like there might be more crossover than you'd expect.

Thanks,
Mark

lasvegasteddy

that alanta special oylmpics was even worse then the sba i swear and upthere for me on ugliest mint products

dcarr

Without a doubt, in my opinion:

Plated zinc cents.

luckyman

Nobody mentioned one of these?




GORGEOUS!


The best thing????? The Doublemint twins! of course!

DoUPlayOnePocket

<< <i>

7 years of bad luck >>



Do you own this bag of 2001 Mixed P & D Kennedy's? Is it still unopened? The reason I am asking is because the bag I purchased from the Mint in 2004 contained one missing the clad layer on the reverse. To my knowledge, there has only been one other found that came from one of these bags.

Chris

Mar327

The SBA had my vote until the Presidential dollars came out. This, IMO, is the most horrendous coin series the Mint has tortured us with. Bad enough to get one ugly coin such as the SBA to look at, but these are just plain embarassing. Spoons or any other collectible they've come out with are at least appreciated by some collectors. Wish I had a drawer full of North Carolina spoons!

IrishMike

Plats, they are pied piper coins.

Connecticoin

RWB

Stella Hackel

coinnut

Clad coins gets my vote.

BillJones

The Susan B. Anthony dollar.

The thing was too close to the size of a quarter, which caused people to get confused, and it was ugly and PC. AND like all of the other dollar coin experiments, it failed.

2manycoins2fewfunds

<< <i>Nobody mentioned one of these?



UGH! That is the first time I've actually seen a picture of that coin. Ranks right up there with SBA and Shiver.

ricko

The Hags... beyond a doubt.... blechh.... Cheers, RickO

FredWeinberg

The Riddler

(which filters out error planchets!)

RWB

“The Riddler”

Sounds like the bad guy in the next “Coinman” movie.

tracking shot. Coinmobile leaving Coincave at high speed. fx. vfx red/blue/black.

[The Riddler chortled as he watched the Coinmobile leave the Coincave in response to a call for help. Little did Coinman know that it was The Riddler who sent the distress call, not Mayor Dix. Coinman, as usual, was deceived by The Riddler. The message that Mayor Dix' daughter, Disme, had been kidnapped and was about to be blown to shreds, was a ruse to get Coinman into The Riddler's evil trap.]

BBQnBLUES

<< <i> >>


Hey, These are Perfect for Halloween "Trick-r-Treaters"

eCoinquest

All Presidential Dollars in my opinon. I think they are the ugliest pieces of garbage the mint has yet to produce. They are not in circulation and probably never will be but they keep making em. Not to mention the designs that make them look like angry, deformed, etc, old men.

tahoe98

...........the SBA as a coin......................the edge lettering process as the worst blunder.

kiyote

The One Oz platinum watch. A cheap watch with a pricy chunk of metal in it.

Blackborder

The worst is yet to come.

ambro51

I've heard the bimetallics were a total disaster.

Silverstate

Hey, I noticed the Wyoming and Idaho spoons are sold out!

Now, how can I complete my collection.

Is PCGS going to start grading these and start a new registry set on this great mint product?

NOT !!!

Trebor

<< <i> >>



OK, I guess that makes the Barber coinage #2.

rjsriv

The Susan B ugly dollar, the shriver commem ar the two that come to mind--both of those women look like they were beat with a ugly stick

ricko

The Hags look like they fell out of an ugly tree and hit all the branches on the way down. Cheers, RickO

tahoe98

..........................

FullStrike

Got to be that junk Platinum 10th Anniversary Set. Overproduced junk that will still be on sale into the next decade.

golfer72

For circulating coins I vote for the Washington quarter

MrHalfDime

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the worthless, baseless, fiat coinage that the Mint has produced since 1933 for gold and 1964 for silver, not backed by any precious metal. That is pretty much the definition of "an awful thing that the Mint has produced".