On 11/1/2014 12:38 PM, wrote:

No, the denomination is necessary because American coin collectors
have had it drummed into their heads for more than fifty years that
round thingie WITHOUT a denomination is a medal, and that medals are
absolutely and totally worthless, even more worthless than foreign
coins which are also worthless.

You're both partially right. Adding a denomination makes the legal
status of "replicas/counterfeits" a lot easier to define, both
domestically and internationally. It's also true that U.S. collectors
seem to prefer coins with dates. For bullion products, that preference
was reinforced by the American Arts Commemorative Series medals, which
are not IRA eligible.

On the other hand, the 1992 Ben Franklin Firefighters medal has done
somewhat better in the secondary market than the 3 commemorative
dollar coins issued that year. And let's face it, coin collectors
are treating the First Spouse coins _and_ medals with equal disdain.

In terms of collector appeal, the ATB series not only suffers from the
"design by 2 committees" process of all non-legacy designs for new
U.S. coins, but also due to the virtual impossibility of coming up
with designs which looks good on both a standard-sized quarter and a
3" hockey puck.

--
Mike Benveniste -- (Clarification Required)
You don't have to sort of enhance reality. There is nothing
stranger than truth. -- Annie Leibovitz