What's your wish list for new national circulation sets?

[Offa]

A new design for the UK is overdue, the novelty of the sections of the shield has become dated. Time for a change from the royal mint, perhaps it may happen when Charles becomes king and the obverse will change

[<k>]

Liberia is talking about issuing coins again. If so, they need a complete new design series, not just the tired old designs of the 1960s and 1970s.

So one wish came true last year.

A pity that Liberia only issued two coins for the new set.




Liberia, 2022 circulation coin set.

[<k>]

Bahrain's designs don't really hang together.

Time for a new set?

[<k>]

The Mauritius set is a mix and match from different eras.

Three different fonts appear to be used.

Some standardisation is needed.

Time for a new design series!

Perhaps one will be issued after the UK returns the Chagos Islands.

[FosseWay]

The font of the rupee and ½ rupee is, if I'm not mistaken, the same as that used on George VI's UK shillings and florins. This isn't hugely surprising since Kruger Gray designed both, but it's perhaps surprising that the same font is still in use 85 years on in a country that's been independent from the UK for decades.

[<k>]

The font of the rupee and ½ rupee is, if I'm not mistaken, the same as that used on George VI's UK shillings and florins. This isn't hugely surprising since Kruger Gray designed both, but it's perhaps surprising that the same font is still in use 85 years on in a country that's been independent from the UK for decades.

Yes, the 1 rupee and half rupee designs date from 1934. They are almost 90 years old. Will the Chagos Islands actually want to join such a backward-looking country? 

Perhaps the stag and the coat of arms designs are as dear to some Mauritians as Britannia is to some Britons. And perhaps they retained those designs to maintain some sense of numismatic continuity? The comfort of tradition, as it were.

See: The world's oldest coin designs still being issued.

[Offa]

Landmarks of the United Kingdom would be good for our coinage, for example the giants causeway, the Falkirk wheel, mount snowden and bamburgh castle would be a good start.

[<k>]

Landmarks of the United Kingdom would be good for our coinage, for example the giants causeway, the Falkirk wheel, mount snowden and bamburgh castle would be a good start.

I'd never heard of the Falkirk wheel, so I googled it. Too industrial and ugly - I'm not accepting it, sorry. Given that Scotland has been semi-detached for some years, I would avoid putting anything Scottish on the new coinage, until at least after Ms. Sturgeon dies. 

Bamburgh Castle I know well. Yes, it would look good on a coin.

[<k>]

UK 2023 set.

Here I belatedly record the new UK series of 2023.

Wildlife! Another wish come true. 

Clearly the King reads WoC and is influenced by it. 

[Tiger Shark]

Hello all!

I know this is an older thread, but it's a compelling topic.  I'm with Peter.....US coins are DREADFUL without exception.  They are uniformly awful, tired and stale, combining mid-century bland ugly with outdated and, frankly, rather stupid mottoes and slogans from the 19th Century that are just irrelevant at this juncture.  And I agree with Peter's stances on what needs to happen with US coinage for a redesign as well.  But it'll never happen....any recent redesigns of US coins have actually made them worse, in my humble opinion.  The US seems to have a massive backlog of ugly, 100 year old designs to draw from when they need to make a new hideous numismatic monstrosity to unleash upon the world.

Other than that, Switzerland's coinage could use a facelift....they're very stuck in the 19th Century.  Their coins aren't hideously ugly, like those of the US, but they are looking a little stale.  I'd also like to see the Andean Condor make a reappearance on one of Chile's coins as well but I'd like to see more nature depictions on coins in general.

Just my thoughts on this topic
~Tom

[Figleaf]

If it's any comfort, non-collecting people usually don't care about design. Their main worry is recognising coins quickly and easily. They appreciate coins for making small transactions fast, not as a visiting card for the country.

This is one important reasons why it is stupid to have some 50 circulating commemoratives a year (EU), or even one every month (India) or why there are so many colonial and outpost UK coins circulating in the UK. If mints feel the need to flog pictures in metal to survive the transition to money being ones and zeroes, so be it. Just don't get the nonsense in circulation.

Peter

[FosseWay]

Yes, US coin designs are very conservative, but so are those of several other countries. What I notice most about US coins compared to those of other comparable Western countries is how cluttered they are, regardless of the conservative-ness of the actual motif.

I create a record of each coin type I have, which consists of an image of both sides with a panel alongside for specifications. Under that are generally four lines of text: description of side A, side B, edge and any catalog references etc. I have. For most modern circulation coins, the description of the two sides fits on one line each, including a verbatim rendering of whatever text there is. But this is often not true for US coins, where in order to describe everything that's going on on the coin, plus render all the text, I need at least two lines.

This is quite normal for many countries' large commemoratives (UK £5 coins and such), but it generally isn't true of European commemoratives intended to circulate.

Below is my record for a randomly selected State Quarter, where the descriptions of both sides take up a lot of words. The design on the state side is not especially conservative, and there's nothing wrong with the Grand Canyon view, but the whole is cluttered. I'd keep the substantive image but lose the ribbon with the state motto and the national motto E Pluribus Unum, leaving only the relevant information as text: the state name, its date of accession, and the date of the coin.

[<k>]

I know this is an older thread, but it's a compelling topic.

Glad you like it, Tiger Shark. On this forum, we always welcome additions to older topics.

I'd also like to see the Andean Condor make a reappearance on one of Chile's coins as well

So you want a condor redux? 

See:  Numismatic heritage: circulation designs that have been reused.




Chile's current series has too many duplicate designs of O'Higgins. 

See:  Circulation sets with duplicate pictorial designs.

[quaziright]

If it's any comfort, non-collecting people usually don't care about design. Their main worry is recognising coins quickly and easily. They appreciate coins for making small transactions fast, not as a visiting card for the country.

This is one important reasons why it is stupid to have some 50 circulating commemoratives a year (EU), or even one every month (India) or why there are so many colonial and outpost UK coins circulating in the UK. If mints feel the need to flog pictures in metal to survive the transition to money being ones and zeroes, so be it. Just don't get the nonsense in circulation.

Peter

India stopped issuing commemorative circulation coins for around 8 years already, with exception for a set commemorating their 75th anniversary

[FosseWay]

If it's any comfort, non-collecting people usually don't care about design. 

Not sure I agree with that, given the widespread media coverage and activity on social media in the UK surrounding both the "jigsaw" redesign in 2008 and the new designs for King Charles's coins last year. These also show that public commentary isn't automatically positive or negative, with the former garnering overwhelmingly negative comment and the latter generally positive.

What is true is that the public doesn't care about the designs on coins it never sees, which these days includes a lot of circulation-specification coins in the UK and Eurozone. 

Regarding "colonial and outpost" coins, are there "so many"? I see far fewer in use than I did 20, 30, 40 years ago, just as there are far fewer coins from the Vatican, San Marino and Monaco than there were before the euro. And the fact that coins from the Crown Dependencies circulate at all is down to how people recognise what is "valid money" and what isn't. I don't think that's got to do with design so much as physical specifications. If it's the right size, shape, colour and approximate weight, it will generally be accepted by the general public. This is also why it wasn't confusing to have shillings and florins circulating alongside decimal coins.