To Coin a Prez, Reagan Was Ahead of His Dime

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Friday, December 12, 2003 | JAMES TARANTO

[presidio9]

It was hard to suppress a chuckle last Friday, when Hillary Clinton accused President Bush of aspiring "to undo the New Deal." Three days later Mr. Bush signed the Medicare Prescription Drug Modernization Act, establishing a vast new entitlement. But some Republicans would like to do away with a symbol of the New Deal: the Roosevelt dime.

[samtheman]

putting each man's face on half the dimes minted

Let's wait till the number of Reagan dimes catches up to the number of Roosevelt dimes already out there. They aren't going to be recalled, are they?

(Maybe what they fear is signs like: Roosevelt Dimes Not Accepted Here.)

[samtheman]

I would definitely be throwing my Roosevelt dimes away.

[newgeezer]

a six-pointed star

How... curious.

But, even though dumping the Czar of the U.S.S.A. in favor of Ronaldus Maximus would easily make more sense than snubbing Ben Franklin to immortalize JFK on the half, the Reagan dime won't happen.

[Onelifetogive]

...poof! there he was on the 50¢ piece...

Do you suppose that VP Lyndon Johnson had been working on the design for several months before the assassination?

[newgeezer]

but can't escape the suspicion that this was a purely emotional decision.

Of course it was. Look at all the public schools named after him in the 4 or 5 years after his death. At best, the guy was a mediocre president. He took us headfirst into the quagmire of quagmires, nearly got us into a nuclear war and, on top of all that, was a dirty, rotten scumbag of a human being (admittedly, that was due to genetics).

[null and void]

Geeee, you make him sound like a protoclinton...

[WoofDog123]

"Washington and Jefferson joined Lincoln in Americans' change purses, appearing, respectively, on the quarter in 1932 and the nickel in 1938. In 1948 the transition in American coinage from generic symbols to historic figures was completed, as Ben Franklin came to the half-dollar and Walking Liberty walked into the sunset. "

It is a shame, since the Walking liberty, etc., coinage was far more artisticly appealing that the roman-style profiles of past emperors. For that matter, our paper money used to be a work of art, particularly the 'educational series' of 3 silver certificates in the late 19th century.

[SCHROLL]

Let them have FDR on the Dime. Put Reagan on the $50 bill. Get rid of Grant.

[presidio9]

What would these guys think if they could come back and see that we've deified them, in effect, like the Roman emporers of old? I bet they'd be horrified.

I think you are missing the point. We are not deifying them so much as we are putting their accomplishments into proper perspective. Do you think we should tear down the Jefferson Memorial?

[Hatteras]

"Do you suppose that VP Lyndon Johnson had been working on the design for several months before the assassination?"

Not into that conspiracy here but what is amazing is that the whole process was done and complete in such a short time thus saving us millions of dollars.

Today? Well, first of all, we'll need to have a concept committee to meet for a few months to come up with all the questions that need to be asked.

Next, we'll need a public relations committee to ensure political correctness and make doubly sure nobody's feelings get hurt.

With that done, we will have to hire a marketing agency to convince the public that 300 million dollars really isn't a large cost considering the historical significance of what they were about to do.

Now, with a deadline looming we will have to come up with a design committee. Do we want the serious presidential Reagan? The warm friendly beaming, yet presidential Reagan? Or the endearing and relaxed cowboy Reagan?

Well, it's certainly not fair to the taxpaying public to depend on a few dozen designers to decide which Reagan to depict, so.... Let's have a national vote! We can set it up like Major League Baseball's All-Star balloting. Pick a ballot up at your local grocer and submit it in the box and you are automatically entered to win a newly minted roll of Ronald Reagan Collector's Dimes and a 2005 Ford Explorer!

(Contest ends midnight, June 30th, 2004. Winning contestant will be responsible for all taxes, tags and vehicle prep costs and must pay $10.89 for shipping of Collector Dimes. Contest open to all legal residents of the continental United States, Alask, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. You must be 18 to enter. Federal employees and their blood relatives, spouses or significant others are not elligible to win the grand prize. Go to www.usgov.gov/presidents/reagan/dime/contest for details, instructions and sample ballot.)

Okay, after 6 months, all the ballots are in and we have to count them... DOH!

6 months later, the Supreme Court will hand down their decision. It is quite clear that the Supreme Court had their collective ear to the ground and heard the thundering grass-roots ground swell of support for, my personal favorite, the Cowboy Reagan Dime.

Production begins and after another 3 month, 30 million dollar advertising campaign tour, a shiney new Reagan dime is now sitting in the loose change bowl on the shelf over the washer & dryer in mom's laundry room...

The long and short of it is that they could get the entire thing done in a month or two with minimal cost to the taxpayer. And THAT is something Ronald Reagan could appreciate.

[Petronski]

Eliminate the paper one and put Reagan on a redesigned paper two dollar bill.