I'm a bit disappointed by the newest American Innovation Dollar..."Handball"

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Kurisu
Kurisu Posts: 2,228 ✭✭✭✭✭
in U.S. Coin Forum

It features the first home multi-player game "Handball" which was the earlier version of "Pong".
Available to order on June 15th.

I feel like the coin reflects none of that super early video game vibe and is so basic it's a bit sad.
They could've at least put the graphic on a tube tv lol!
And after I was loving their most recent Hubble telescope release...this one could've been so cool!

Handball was released on the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972!

In 1966, Ralph Baer began to investigate how to play games on a television. He and his team developed the “Brown Box,” a prototype for the first multi-player, multi-program video game system. This paved the way for all video game systems that followed. Baer is known today as "The Father of Video Games."

The reverse (tails) design depicts Ralph Baer’s brown box game “Handball” on the right side of the coin. The left side features “NEW HAMPSHIRE” and “PLAYER 1” on an incused background. The inscriptions “IN-HOME VIDEO GAME SYSTEM” and “RALPH BAER” encircle the coin in a text that is meant to pay homage to Baer’s Odyssey game. The additional inscription is "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA." The design is also symbolic of an arcade token.

https://catalog.usmint.gov/on/demandware.store/Sites-USM-Site/default/Product-Variation?pid=MASTER_INNOVATIONNH&dwvar_MASTER__INNOVATIONNH_detailsINNOVATIONNH=21GRA

Coins are Neato!

"If it's a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone...somewhere...is making a penny." - Steven Wright

Comments

  • JBK
    JBK Posts: 17,860 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    This is what happens with these endless state series. I expect worse designs and subjects to emerge, but this one will stay in the running for the top 10 worst ones.

  • Namvet69
    Namvet69 Posts: 9,423 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Sad that the legacy of beautifully designed and engraved classic elements are not used. Peace Roy

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  • TurtleCat
    TurtleCat Posts: 4,692 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I would think New Hampshire has some more interesting possibilities for innovation as well.

  • tcollects
    tcollects Posts: 1,139 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @Zoins said:

    @TurtleCat said:
    I would think New Hampshire has some more interesting possibilities for innovation as well.

    Here are some:

    Summarized:

    1. Modern Kitchen Stove
    2. Drip Coffeepot
    3. First American Alarm Clock
    4. Double Boiler
    5. Rumford Fireplace
    6. Concord Coach
    7. Mount Washington Cog Railway.

    needs to be a poll I'll vote for the drip coffeepot

  • Zoins
    Zoins Posts: 34,489 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    The Segway is another NH invention!

    Private Mint News | 2010 Lincoln Reverse Finalists
  • Jimnight
    Jimnight Posts: 10,846 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    IMO ... Terrible.

  • coinnut
    coinnut Posts: 1,434 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    This is why I collect the classics.

  • jmlanzaf
    jmlanzaf Posts: 43,046 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @coinnut said:
    This is why I collect the classics.

    Some of which were despised in their day.

    All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.

  • ricko
    ricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Actually, the only video game I have ever played, was Pong... when it first came out, in bars. I do have an interesting story around that game and a company involved in the manufacturing, but for another place/time. I have never had an interest in these games. The coins have had a couple of interesting issues... but do not attract me as a collector. Cheers, RickO

  • olympicsos
    olympicsos Posts: 990 ✭✭✭✭
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    @Off_Cent_er said:
    I have seen better looking laundromat tokens.

    When is the Mint going to give up on the garbage small dollars? Kinda seems like they are running out of ideas. How long before Susan B Anthony gets put back on a small dollar?

    As long as transit agencies don’t want to give paper money back as change from their vending machines, we will still have dollar coins. The only other place where demand for dollar coins comes from is Ecuador and they could make their own dollar coins if transit agencies here in the US didn’t also need them.

  • Zoins
    Zoins Posts: 34,489 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @coinnut said:
    This is why I collect the classics.

    Quite a few Civil War tokens have kitchen stoves on them :)

    Private Mint News | 2010 Lincoln Reverse Finalists
  • Zoins
    Zoins Posts: 34,489 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 1, 2021 9:15AM
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    @messydesk said:
    Chuck E. Cheese went under, so maybe the mint can hire their engravers.

    That won’t work as Chuck E. Cheese hired the Osborne Mint for their tokens, the same company Abraham Lincoln hired for his campaign tokens.

    Private Mint News | 2010 Lincoln Reverse Finalists
  • olympicsos
    olympicsos Posts: 990 ✭✭✭✭
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    @messydesk said:
    Chuck E. Cheese went under, so maybe the mint can hire their engravers.

    They’re still in business as Pasqually’s pizza

  • Hydrant
    Hydrant Posts: 7,773 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    The SBA Dollar was often mistaken as a quarter. This one will definitely be mistaken as an arcade token.

  • Davideo
    Davideo Posts: 1,364 ✭✭✭✭
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    I don't understand why the largest element, by far, is "Player 1". That seems to be perhaps the least important element.

    I do think it is a good choice for an innovation topic for NH.

  • Kurisu
    Kurisu Posts: 2,228 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Out of the 2021 designs coming up for the American Innovation Dollars... I think North Carolina is my favorite. And not just because that's where my parents live :blush:

    The designers of the Handball coin above are...
    Designer: Christina Hess
    Sculptor-Engraver: Eric David Custer

    Christina is also the designer of the Women's Suffrage coin...

    Eric was also the engraver of the Telephone coin...

    Coins are Neato!

    "If it's a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone...somewhere...is making a penny." - Steven Wright

  • Zoins
    Zoins Posts: 34,489 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @Kurisu said:

    Imagine different states for:

    • First 2 player game
    • First 3 player game

    • First 4 player game

      :D

    Private Mint News | 2010 Lincoln Reverse Finalists
  • clarkbar04
    clarkbar04 Posts: 5,027 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I was the only kid I knew with an odyssey video game console. Naturally everybody else had an Atari.

    MS66 taste on an MS63 budget.
  • BStrauss3
    BStrauss3 Posts: 3,905 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @Off_Cent_er said:
    When is the Mint going to give up on the garbage small dollars? Kinda seems like they are running out of ideas. How long before Susan B Anthony gets put back on a small dollar?

    When Congress stops making them mint them.

    Wait until the series after the Sestercentennial in 2026:

    "Youth sports"

    1950s edition: Baseball, basketball, stickball, field hockey, street hockey...

    2026 edition: ??????

    -----Burton
    ANA 50+ year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
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  • savitale
    savitale Posts: 1,410 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Has anyone ever received a "golden dollar" in circulation? I have never seen one. I assumed they were struck only for mint sets and proof sets, but the mintages suggest otherwise.

    LIBERTY SEATED DIMES WITH MAJOR VARIETIES CIRCULATION STRIKES (1837-1891) digital album

  • Zoins
    Zoins Posts: 34,489 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2, 2021 12:42AM
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    @savitale said:
    Has anyone ever received a "golden dollar" in circulation? I have never seen one. I assumed they were struck only for mint sets and proof sets, but the mintages suggest otherwise.

    I haven't received any change since Covid started since I stopped using cash.

    Really interesting to think a year, countries were burning their Covid-contaminated cash.

    Private Mint News | 2010 Lincoln Reverse Finalists
  • DNADave
    DNADave Posts: 7,350 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @clarkbar04 said:
    I was the only kid I knew with an odyssey video game console. Naturally everybody else had an Atari.

    Lol. I had the odyssey with the voice attachment. Pick axe Pete was my favorite game.

  • olympicsos
    olympicsos Posts: 990 ✭✭✭✭
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    @savitale said:
    Has anyone ever received a "golden dollar" in circulation? I have never seen one. I assumed they were struck only for mint sets and proof sets, but the mintages suggest otherwise.

    I live in the NYC metro area and if you pay for subway or commuter rail tickets by cash, change is only given in dollar coins and no bills.

  • chesterb
    chesterb Posts: 995 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I like Pong and the old video games but that coin is weak.

  • TurtleCat
    TurtleCat Posts: 4,692 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    The upcoming designs for next year aren’t very inspiring either. Aside from a few here and there I think most of the series will remain unappealing to me.

  • oih82w8
    oih82w8 Posts: 13,207 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @clarkbar04 said:
    I was the only kid I knew with an odyssey video game console. Naturally everybody else had an Atari.

    I don't remember the name of the pong console that we had, but it was fun...for a little while. Then I got my Intellivison, my brother got a Colecovision.

    Pretty lame, even for a NIFC coin.

    oih82w8 = Oh I Hate To Wait _defectus patientia_aka...Dr. Defecto - Curator of RMO's

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  • micotu
    micotu Posts: 58 ✭✭
    edited September 15, 2021 1:36PM
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    Reviving this older thread to ask a question? Why is the coin rotated 90 degrees in all the images from the mint. For both the dollar proof set and the individual coin, the coin is rotated 90 degrees and even in the description they say "The reverse (tails) design depicts Ralph Baer’s brown box game “Handball” on the right side of the coin. The left side features “NEW HAMPSHIRE” and “PLAYER 1” on an incused background."

    But none of the writing around the coin indicates it should have this orientation. I originally thought that maybe they wanted the line down the middle to indicate the two sides of the game handball, but the graphic showing the game handball on the top ("right") actually has both sides of the game as both of the blocks and the ball are present, so that wouldn't really make sense either.

    Coin: https://catalog.usmint.gov/american-innovation-1-coin-2021-rolls-and-bags-new-hampshire-MASTER_INNOVATIONNH.html?cgid=2021-product-schedule
    Set: https://catalog.usmint.gov/american-innovation-2021-1-coin-proof-set-21GA.html?cgid=2021-product-schedule

    If the set is actually going to look like this, I am going to laugh:

  • AnnW
    AnnW Posts: 62 ✭✭✭
    edited September 15, 2021 2:06PM
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    In general, I do like the American Innovation series, but agree that the New Hampshire coin is pretty ugly. I did a bit of a double-take when I first saw it; I thought someone was making a joke. I think some of the other suggestions in this thread would have made a far better coin. Perhaps they could have put Ralph Baer's image on the coin instead? I think that would have been superior to what they settled upon.

    I quite like the North Carolina one though, and the other two are fine as well to my eye.

  • CaptHenway
    CaptHenway Posts: 34,164 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    And so ends the great experiment of American coinage, not with a bang, but with a whimper.

    Professional Numismatist, Retired. 55 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner of the PNG's 2026 Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.
  • Jzyskowski1
    Jzyskowski1 Posts: 6,650 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Well I guess I’ll share one I love. I know it’s this and that. Blah blah. But I love the look. It was cheap and it takes me back. Ok here goes

    🎶 shout shout, let it all out 🎶

  • 2dueces
    2dueces Posts: 6,870 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    My buddy and I would light up a fat one and play that game and tank battle for hours. Amazing graphics, so with thought or little did we know. Don’t remember much about the 70’s but I have fond memories of what I do remember.

    W.C.Fields
    "I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
  • moursund
    moursund Posts: 3,207 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @2dueces said:
    My buddy and I would light up a fat one and play that game and tank battle for hours. Amazing graphics, so with thought or little did we know. Don’t remember much about the 70’s but I have fond memories of what I do remember.

    "... light up a fat one ... Don't remember much ... " Coincidence? I think not.

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  • 2dueces
    2dueces Posts: 6,870 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @moursund said:

    @2dueces said:
    My buddy and I would light up a fat one and play that game and tank battle for hours. Amazing graphics, so with thought or little did we know. Don’t remember much about the 70’s but I have fond memories of what I do remember.

    "... light up a fat one ... Don't remember much ... " Coincidence? I think not.

    No coincidence at all. Wait, what were we talking about?

    W.C.Fields
    "I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
  • HATTRICK
    HATTRICK Posts: 2,584 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Bought 5 each of the first two years and Intro reverse proofs in sealed mint boxes. Also one each of the reverse proof coins in NGC 70 holders. That is it for me. Done. will look to unload at some point. I did like the Polio Microscope, Hubble Telescope and the Edison Light Bulb.

    " If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. " The 1st Law of Opposition from The Firesign Theater
  • CopperWire
    CopperWire Posts: 492 ✭✭✭
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    Steve Mnuchin signed off on decades of rotating quarter designs. I may be wrong but I think he did the same for the $1 coins

    @Off_Cent_er said:
    I have seen better looking laundromat tokens.

    When is the Mint going to give up on the garbage small dollars? Kinda seems like they are running out of ideas. How long before Susan B Anthony gets put back on a small dollar?

  • Kurisu
    Kurisu Posts: 2,228 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I have to admit...I like it in-hand!
    It did nothing for me on paper but I'm genuinely enjoying the oddness of the sideways layout combined with one of the oddest U.S. coin designs lol!
    I've always been in love with the liberty reverse of the American Innovation Dollars so I decided to give it a chance.
    Just received this little B-day Xmas combo gift I bought myself :smiley:

    Coins are Neato!

    "If it's a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone...somewhere...is making a penny." - Steven Wright

  • 291fifth
    291fifth Posts: 25,218 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    This is probably the most obscure series of all time that is not issued in a precious metal.

    All glory is fleeting.
  • WAYNEAS
    WAYNEAS Posts: 7,271 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I need the 2021's for my set but really hope that the 2022's are better.
    >

    >

    >

    Wayne

    Kennedys are my quest...

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