Zombucks are fun, but are they an investment?

I mentioned Zombucks in my previous post.   There have been four issued so far, in silver and copper.

 I'm too cheap to spend money on the silver versions (especially the proofs) but I did buy these copper specimens.

All of these are supposedly limited edition and the silver after market prices have been increasing.

I wouldn't recommend them as an investment though: their popularity is strongly tied to zombie theme movies and TV shows like The Walking Dead.  Yes, The Walking Dead could well become a cult classic and live on in re-runs for many decades, but I think you also would also need to be concerned that counterfeits could dilute the market or destroy it outright.

Consider that when the U.S. Mint says something is limited mintage, it most definitely is and the dies are destroyed after production. What guarantees you that Zombucks master dies have been destroyed?

Still, these are fun and I don't mind throwing a few dollars into them just for that reason.

You can find the older Zombucks on Ebay and the very latest can be had at Zombucks.com.

According to that site, there will be ten in the series.  While the Walker, Morgue Anne and the Zombuff are interesting, I'm not sure the Barber has quite the same appeal or even that many will understand why it is so named (Charles Barber designed the half dollar that is based on).  That may be true for the rest of this series also, so the popularity could wane because of that.

This weeks Coinweek Giveaway:  http://www.coinweek.com/~cd5342a1aa5cb1c

Also multiple contests going on at http://www.moderncoinmart.com/forum/forums/contests/

Coin Collecting - We were wrong to abandon Liberty

When designs for the first coinage of our country were considered, there were those who wanted George Washington's face used.  George himself shot that down and it was probably not out of modesty - George and all the founders didn't like monarchies and he almost certainly felt that having a portrait of himself on our coins would be reminiscent of the figures of kings and queens common elsewhere. He may have also sided with other thinkers of the time who were greatly in fear of a cult of personality - where men become more important than ideas and heroes are worshipped unthinkingly.  

An idealized figure of Liberty avoided those issues and that was what was chosen.

Until the Lincoln Cent of 1909, Liberty was on most of our coinage in some form or another. She is still on some of our non-circulating coins (silver and gold Eagles), but she no longer graces any of our circulating coins or paper money and I think that is sad.

Abandoning Lady Liberty leaves off the most important ideal of our country. We don't need religious mottos or slogans of unity - those weren't on any of our original coinage. What was there was what our founders considered most important: Liberty.

Was Lincoln an important man? Of course, but more important than Liberty? I think not, and I think that the Lincoln cent was a tragedy in that it began the current trend of idolizing men rather than ideas.

I don't think Lady Liberty needs to be on all our coins, by the way. I just don't think people ever should be.  Ideas should matter, not heroes. 

How about the Constitution Cent and the Justice for All Nickel? The Freedom of Religion Dollar bill and the Equal Opportunity fiver?

There are plenty of good themes that don't worship men. Save the portraits for commemorative issues and medals.

If you've never seen the original coinage of our country, go look it up. http://www.pcgs.com/photograde/ is a great place to do that. Tell me that Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, Roosevelt and Kennedy are more important symbols than Lady Liberty.

I think it ironic that many of those who refuse to consider changes are also those who are apt to trumpet that we should do what the founding fathers intended. They are referring to the Constitution, of course and the problem is that we can easily argue the meaning and intent of words.

But in the case of coinage, the intent is plain. There it is, indelibly stamped into copper, silver and gold. Those coins represent what the founders wanted. It's that simple.

We have lost our way. We were wrong to abandon Liberty.

Photo courtesy Heritage Auctions, used by permission.
http://ha.com

Coin Collecting - Shark Jumpers

Update: see this too: http://www.moderncoinmart.com/forum/threads/nominees-for-the-first-annual-shark-jumper-award.1969/#post-36718

I thought I had seen everything, but then I saw this:

Yes, that is a $1 Australian "coin" shaped like a map.

I'm sorry, but that's not a coin.  It apparently is nominally legal tender in Australia, but that doesn't change anything in my mind. It's not a coin.

Canada has the same sort of nonsense going on:

Those are actually relatively tame:

The U.S. Mint has joined the fray also:

How about this?

This last one is ridiculous:  it's sculpture sitting on a coin!

I'm sorry, but these things really are not coins.  I'm not saying that they won't be collected, I'm not even saying that coin collectors won't consider them part of their collections.  I'm not saying that some won't have value - I'm just saying they are not coins, dammit!

Oh, there are more.  Guitar shaped coins, sports cars, even scented coins!

I just can't accept that because some minting authority calls some object a coin it deserves the appellation.

But what else to call them? They are not exonumia, because they are "official". They aren't medals if they have legal tender status. So what are they?

I really don't think future coin collectors will call them coins. In fact, I think that these will be a special branch, like exonumia - there will be those who have a few pieces mixed into their collection and those who collect only these untraditional pieces.

Well, there's a thought: "Non-traditional NCLT" perhaps? 

"NCLT productions" is another possibility. 

I suppose "Shark jumpers" might be too caustic, but you never know. I think that will be my term, at least for now.

So, how many shark jumpers do you own? I've bought the Baseball Hall of Fame, but don't think I'll be buying any others. How about you?