So let me start my story, after a few years spent living in a debit card delirium, I, for once, had some real money in my possession. And all was well, until I arrived at this fancy restaurant called Chicken Fillet or chic something, that was when I reached into my pocket to give the cashier lady some change. I rummaged through my pockets and found some coins that would suffice. I glanced down at them and started to hand them over, and then I paused. Thinking to myself: 'What are these things?' In my hand were these little, but not too little, shiny foreign objects. I had no idea what they were initially,... they felt like nickels when i got them. and, they were the size of nickels. But were they nickels? On close inspection, they were revealed to be indeed nickels. The cashier must have thought I was a little slowheaded with my indecisive curiosity, and the line behind me thought I was just an asshole. Somebody barely uttered, but just enough for me to hear "hurry up and pay, asshole."
If you have not seen these new nickels yet here is a illustrated example from the mint website:
OLD
and NEW
But before you think that I am one of those, 'I hate all new things' kind of guy, I am going to go ahead and declare myself not against them. I am going to have to say that I like them. Yes I was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of a different design and aesthetic, and yes I also felt a little bit like Rip Van Winkle. Thinking, 'Where was I when these things took over?' But on the contrary, I am all for the design change. Actually, I think these new coins look cool ...as shit (of course). And I'd like to say Kudos to the US Mint department or bureau. one or the other. or is there a third?
Congratulations, You've done it again.
All Americans have you to thank for their enjoyment of the terrific 50 State Coin series, already. The quarters were spactackular. But you all have been holding back, the Nickels outshine even the state quarters.
But briefly, back to the Quarters, Wow, I still can't believe how you all managed to pack all of that 50 state goodness into a series of coins. And that lack of belief is why I am not a coin designer and employed by y'all. You. You had that belief and you got people believing. A little history lesson is needed here, unless we forget. The old quarter at the time was believed to be, by some, a dead coin. In fact, circulation was down, at an all time low. People were opting out of using the old quarters and used two dimes and five pennies instead. But not anymore, the new state coin series made people proud to be Americans once again. The quarters were dual purpose too, beauty and education. People got to learn about the 50 states that we, as americans, live in. ALL 50 of them! Virginia, New York, California, and Massachusetts, and North Carolina, and South Carolina, North Dakota and South Dakota, Wyoming, Hawaii, Nebraska, Idaho, Illinois, Mississippi, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Oregon, Maine, and Vermont, New Hampshire, and Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas, Alaska, Montana, and Kentucky, and West Virginia......the list goes on and on. And we all have you, the US Mint of the United States of America, to thank. For, of course, having brought that coin back from the f**king dead! Like that other dude. Its not far fetched to call that short of miraculous. or just plain miraculous. And thank you for that.
And now, the f**king nickle too?!?!?
Just like the rest of America, I too was bored out of my fucking mind with that old building and that dead dude's head. Who really needs to see a whole head? Not I. All you really need is the face. In fact, when those old nickels were still around, I stopped looking at them wretched things, any longer than I had to, to dispose of them (quickly). I'd hand them to my grandpa, and say, "take that old man". Now , thanks to you, the US Mint, and your terrific new designs, I am no longer ashamed to say I collect coins. It is hip once again. America can rejoice.
