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Would you support MLK on a U.S. Coin?

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  • 123cents123cents Posts: 7,178 ✭✭✭
    Maybe on a Commemorative Coin if the money from the sells went to the right cause.
    image
  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 29,229 ✭✭✭✭✭
    no way. we do thou need something else in replacement of people. ( im just not sure what yet )
  • goldengolden Posts: 9,995 ✭✭✭✭✭
    NO!
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,838 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I would like to see all of the different US animals on coins and the go by series, reptiles, mammals, birds, fish etc >>



    Sounds like this would be more appropriate for a stamp series.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • crazyhounddogcrazyhounddog Posts: 14,068 ✭✭✭✭✭
    We need to get back to making beautiful coins again! It's REALLY bad right now.....Our coins are soooo ugly right now it's just a shame ...They used to be the most beautiful. NO MORE PEOPLE.......Joe
    The bitterness of "Poor Quality" is remembered long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.


  • << <i>and don't forget the bacteria and viruses >>



    Don't worry they'll get to Carter and Obama soon enough imageimage
  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,605 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Since I was born American, I've supported

    Dwight D. Eisenhower
    (1890–1969)
    John F. Kennedy
    (1917–1963)
    Lyndon B. Johnson
    (1908–1973)
    Richard Nixon *
    (1913–1994)
    Gerald R. Ford
    (1913–2006)
    Jimmy Carter
    (1924– )
    Ronald Reagan
    (1911–2004)
    George H. W. Bush
    (1924– )
    Bill Clinton
    (1946– )
    George W. Bush
    (1946– )
    Barack Obama
    (1961– )



    ... and so far this has gotten us these coins from the mint :

    George Washington
    (1732–1799)
    John Adams
    (1735–1826)
    Thomas Jefferson
    (1743-1826)
    James Madison
    (1751–1836)
    James Monroe
    (1758–1831)
    John Quincy Adams
    (1767–1848)
    Andrew Jackson
    (1767–1845)
    Martin Van Buren
    (1782–1862)
    William Henry Harrison
    (1773–1841)
    John Tyler
    (1790–1862)
    James K. Polk
    (1795–1849)
    Zachary Taylor
    (1784–1850)
    Millard Fillmore
    (1800–1874)
    Franklin Pierce
    (1804–1869)
    James Buchanan
    (1791–1868)
    Abraham Lincoln
    (1809–1865)
    Andrew Johnson
    (1808–1875)
    Ulysses S. Grant
    (1822–1885)
    Rutherford B. Hayes
    James A. Garfield
    (1831–1881)


    --------------------------Next Release Below--------------------------
    02/16/2012 Infantry Soldier Silver Dollar
    TBD Presidential $1 Coin Rolls - Chester Arthur
    TBD 2012 United States Mint Presidential $1 Coin Proof Set
    TBD 2012 Presidential $1 Coin Uncirculated Set


    ...as a commemorative, I'd still be in support of MLK on a coin. Though, I will not join or support facebook.
  • SamByrdSamByrd Posts: 3,131 ✭✭✭✭
    YES. MLK did a lot of good and had a very important impact on history. There are many that have perverted his message yes. Still
    MLK was a great man and made a great impact. MLK would not approve of a lot today being said and done in his name. I would put him on a bill maybe the 10 for a period of time or perhaps the half dollar. I am a conservative politically but do think there are far worse people that can be put on a coin. Some one relevant would be refreshing.
  • ditch Kennedy for Liberty..why is there a adulterous eavesdropping mob-related POTUS on a coin anyway? Bad enough they renamed a bridge in NY after this brother. Spare me the camelot BS
    "I'm dropping my standards so that I can buy more"
  • No Way!
  • sawyerjoshsawyerjosh Posts: 416 ✭✭✭
    Yes! He did a lot more good than many presidents did. We gave SBA a coin, MLK deserves one!
    As a seller: USARarities, acloco, coindudeonebay, Twinturbo, MICHAELDIXON, blu62vette, mothra454, LukeMarshall, USARarities
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  • ambro51ambro51 Posts: 13,949 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Yes. I am honestly surprised it has not happend during the last three years but maybe in two years from now. Or pull that Smirking Wimp Hamilton off the 10$
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,838 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Yes. I am honestly surprised it has not happend during the last three years but maybe in two years from now. Or pull that Smirking Wimp Hamilton off the 10$ >>



    Ambro---Why such hatred for Hamilton? Do you even know what he did for our country? Also, putting your controversial buddy MLK on any paper money would be a big mistake. There would be an overnight shortage of ink pens.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • SaorAlbaSaorAlba Posts: 7,593 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Frankly I would prefer to see someone like Rosa Parks or Medgar Evers on a coin. MLK is a complex individual that people still alive will remember had a sullied reputation - ie his personal life. Rosa Parks was a very modest person, unasuming - but a powerful person that inspired a whole people with her dignity.

    I think a whole series of commemoratives could be made, ie the lunch counter sit in, the bus boycott, the marches, MLK's "I have a dream" speech. More could be remembered that way. Don't commemorate just a man, but a whole movement. BTW I would like to see more recognition for the Tuskegee Airmen, ie the Red Tails.
    Tir nam beann, nan gleann, s'nan gaisgeach ~ Saorstat Albanaich a nis!
  • WinPitcherWinPitcher Posts: 27,726 ✭✭✭
    your link did not bring me to your FB page.

    Good for you.
  • SanctionIISanctionII Posts: 12,597 ✭✭✭✭✭
    NO.

    Bring back lady liberty.

    However, if it is inevitable that the mint will continue to place real persons on coinage, then I would prefer MLK over other so called leaders of the "Civil Rights" movement [i.e. Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton]. I would also favor Thurgood Marshall along with MLK.

  • MsMorrisineMsMorrisine Posts: 35,850 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Yes! He did a lot more good than many presidents did. We gave SBA a coin, MLK deserves one! >>




    I was thinking the same thing, but we have Sac on the $1 now.

    And this lead me to say: "which group of devotees are you going to upset with the image removal?"

    I guess the fewest upset would be with Roosevelt.

    maybe if we get rid of the $1 and $2 bill there could be a MLK $2 coin.


    Current maintainer of Stone's Master List of Favorite Websites // My BST transactions
  • I say no. Medals are for memorializing people. General circulation coins shouldn't be.
    Let's try not to get upset.
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,731 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>YES. MLK did a lot of good and had a very important impact on history. There are many that have perverted his message yes. Still
    MLK was a great man and made a great impact. MLK would not approve of a lot today being said and done in his name. I would put him on a bill maybe the 10 for a period of time or perhaps the half dollar. I am a conservative politically but do think there are far worse people that can be put on a coin. Some one relevant would be refreshing. >>




    King was a great man.

    He's more appropriate for a coin than some we already have but I'm with those who say
    bring back lady liberty for the coins. We've lost sight of King's vision of all men being created
    equal and are losing our liberty in the name of civil rights.

    King deserves a very prominent place in our culture so put him on the two dollar bill and eliminate
    the single. Redesign the coins to reflect a people who treasure liberty. Revalue the coins so they
    are useful in commerce and streamline them.

    ...And people thought Martin Luther King Jr had a dream. image


    Some people thought he was tilting at windmills.
    tempus fugit extra philosophiam.
  • michiganboymichiganboy Posts: 1,247 ✭✭✭
    no!
    Positive BST transactions:michaeldixon,nibanny,
    type2,CCHunter.
  • I would support him on our coinage before Regan.
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,838 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I would support him on our coinage before Regan. >>



    The left will never forgive Regan for bringing down the Soviet Union and communism so I don't expect to see him on a coin any time soon.



    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • coindeucecoindeuce Posts: 13,496 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Sure, and then we should have a coin with J.Edgar Hoover on it as well.

    "Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
    http://www.american-legacy-coins.com

  • SeattleSlammerSeattleSlammer Posts: 10,049 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The left will never forgive Regan for bringing down the Soviet Union and communism so I don't expect to see him on a coin any time soon.



    image Hey PH, take your political rants elsewhere.


  • cameron12xcameron12x Posts: 1,384 ✭✭✭
    I think a commemorative coin with MLK on it would be fabulous.

    His presence in American History deserves such representation, IMHO.
  • DD Posts: 1,997 ✭✭✭
    I don't like the idea of people on coins.

    However I certainly believe MLK was an integral part of AMERICAN history.

    -D
    "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

    -Aristotle

    Dum loquimur fugerit invida aetas. Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.

    -Horace
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,838 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>The left will never forgive Regan for bringing down the Soviet Union and communism so I don't expect to see him on a coin any time soon.

    image Hey PH, take your political rants elsewhere. >>



    When you quoted me, why didn't you include the post that I was responding to? It's obvious that this would be a political discussion considering the controversial nature of the person being discussed. Also, notice that I suggested that MLK would be appropriate for a commemorative coin.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • Thank you for your input. Judging by the responses on two different Coin forums and the lack of responses via Facebook, it sounds like the general consensus is no to U.S. Coin, and yes to Commem.

    ~Jason
  • mingotmingot Posts: 1,807 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Thank you for your input. Judging by the responses on two different Coin forums and the lack of responses via Facebook, it sounds like the general consensus is no to U.S. Coin, and yes to Commem.

    ~Jason >>



    Jason, this whole thing is going to be a really tough sell to coin collectors. Many of use just don't like people on circulating coins. As for commens, a lot of people are starting to think that the mint is going down (or is already down) the same road that the post office traveled that killed stamp collecting -- which is so much garbage year after year that it is exhausting.
  • mingotmingot Posts: 1,807 ✭✭✭
    we're also mainly old white men. this also doesn't work in your favor.

    just sayin.
  • I am voting no for coinage and no for a commemorative coin.

    A national holiday and a street in every major city is enough national honor one person needs.

  • Aegis3Aegis3 Posts: 2,912 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>I would support him on our coinage before Regan. >>



    The left will never forgive Regan for bringing down the Soviet Union and communism so I don't expect to see him on a coin any time soon. >>



    Wow, you've obviously never met anyone on the "left."
    --

    Ed. S.

    (EJS)
  • Aegis3Aegis3 Posts: 2,912 ✭✭✭
    (as a general response to a lot of the posts in this thread.)

    Wow. Just Wow.

    --

    Ed. S.

    (EJS)
  • Aegis3Aegis3 Posts: 2,912 ✭✭✭
    (and more seriously)

    I would not want to put any more people on circulating coinage, and so that would include MLK. Which is not to say he is less worthy than some other people appearing on circulating coins. Certainly not. His message of non-discrimination, radical nonviolence, and social justice is something which resonates still today and will in the future.

    He is certainly worthy of commemorative coinage.

    US Paper money has had a long tradition of having portraits of real people. King would certainly fit in on currency. Perhaps the $20 or the $50 as the most obvious choices.
    --

    Ed. S.

    (EJS)
  • I personally think we should stick with Liberty, but if we have a SBA why not an MLK?
  • CoinspongeCoinsponge Posts: 3,927 ✭✭✭
    Mlk represents division by race. We need to pick symbols of unity not division on our coinage.
    Gold and silver are valuable but wisdom is priceless.
  • mingotmingot Posts: 1,807 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Mlk represents division by race. We need to pick symbols of unity not division on our coinage. >>



    ... what?
  • Even if MLK is considered for coinage, he needs to get in line behind about 100 other Americans. Jonas Salk did more for Americans than MLK could ever dream of.
  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,460 ✭✭✭✭✭
    MLK Jr's dad??
    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose, Cardinal.
  • No, Unless they make it a gold & silver set with Rosa parks.........mintage of 50K total and household limit of 1...........sure could use another frenzyimage
  • *Coffee
  • SeattleSlammerSeattleSlammer Posts: 10,049 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Mlk represents division by race. We need to pick symbols of unity not division on our coinage.



    image It must be a full moon tonight.
  • COALPORTERCOALPORTER Posts: 2,900 ✭✭


    << <i>MLK Jr's dad?? >>



    YES! without him there would be no MLK Jr., so it's all his fault image
  • I would prefer the real Martin Luther. He did appear on several German coins.
  • WillieBoyd2WillieBoyd2 Posts: 5,270 ✭✭✭✭✭
    We have commemorative coins for three members of the Kennedy family,
    foreigners (Leif Ericson), enemy generals (Robert E. Lee),
    every US military organization except the Coast Guard,
    why not a civil rights leader?

    The United States has issued several commemorative coins to honor
    various World War II groups, why not the Victory Girls, those unsung
    heroines who selflessly gave aid and comfort to the fighting men
    during the time of peril.

    image
    https://www.brianrxm.com
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  • I agree with what appears to be a general consensus. I, too, prefer the abstract symbolism of the 1910s through 1930s over the more concrete realism of modern coins; but, I also agree that if we have to use coins to honor people of significance, then Reverend King should be among them. I think seeing his visage and with it quotes from his famous speeches would remind us what the intent of the movement was, that we overcome race once and for all and respect the dignity of all people--and I say this without implying support or opposition to either political party.

    I would replace the $1 and $5 with coins, keeping the Sacagawea series and dropping the Presidential dollars. Reverend MLK might be the one on the first year of the series, with a different portrait each year--only one, not five or six--of an important figure in American history. Again, I'd rather have abstract designs, but if we have to have real people, he should be one of them.
    Improperly Cleaned, Our passion for numismatics is Genuine! Now featuring correct spelling.


  • << <i>I would prefer the real Martin Luther. He did appear on several German coins. >>




    You do have a point: the Germans have business and productivity down. Unemployemt below 6%.


  • << <i>Even if MLK is considered for coinage, he needs to get in line behind about 100 other Americans. Jonas Salk did more for Americans than MLK could ever dream of. >>



    10%-15% of our population didn't have access to the American dream and was publicly humiliated dozens of times in everyday be it having to use back doors or different water fountains and he galvanized the movement that help bring about change after over 300 years of oppression.

    I find it humorous and appalling that a bunch of old/middle age white guys feel qualified to debate his merits or think that they could possibly rationalize a way to disparagingly compare him to a medical researcher using a nasty pun be it intended or not. While I do realize the core demographic of my chosen hobby, I don't think we need to enforce our own negative stereo types every chance we get.
  • I'm not white. I'm not middle aged. I'm not supporting a MLK coin. I am offended at the supporters assuming anyone against the idea is a white guy.
  • As a philosophical matter, I agree that real people should not be represented on circulating coinage. Not even Lincoln. The Roosevelt Administration, the Administration which systematized its personality cult by instilling president-worship through many New Deal programs, especially among gov't employees - then used the image of George Washington to help endorse its aims, followed by Jefferson, and eventually Roosevelt himself.

    The Founding Fathers realized that by using a real person on a coin one is in a sense endorsing or submitting to his aims - whether one likes him or not - in every commercial transaction. Once they dumped the hated George III they never wanted to see a real person on a coin again.

    So I firmly believe that the Founders would not want to see anybody - including themselves - on circulating coinage. A medal would be most appropriate. I'd stretch that to assent to a commemorative coin. The "presidential dollar" thing they might consider O.K. as an educational tool since the mintage is for a short and limited time only.

    However, we do live in the real world and currently that means competing ideologies expressed in coinage. That applies to both parties. Not just the SBA. Consider the motive of the Nixon Administration to re-associate itself with Eisenhower, resulting in the revival of the dollar coin, or the push to put Ronald Reagan on the dime.

    So, rather reluctantly, unless real people images are dropped from other coins, I'd endorse MLK on a circulating coin. Preferably a dollar coin with a time-limited mintage, like the presidential dollars, as part of a series of other famous American statesmen who never made it to the presidency. And I would demand that Republicans be included as well as purported Democrats.
    Salute the automobile: The greatest anti-pollution device in human history!
    (Just think of city streets clogged with a hundred thousand horses each generating 15 lbs of manure every day...)

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