Colorized Coins
Colorized coins have been the subject of many heated debates amongst numismatists. They were once just novelties made by third parties who though the ATB quarters would looked cooler if somebody knocked a paint can on top of them (roll searchers know what I mean). But in more recent times, many mints from across the world (and even the US mint) have made colorized coins for sale to collectors, and in some cases, for circulation.
Canada issued their first colorized coin for circulation just recently, which was the 10 cent piece that feature the sailing ship "Bluenose". It was first released for circulation on October 22nd, 2021. It featured the dual date 1921 and 2021, just like the quarter, half dollar, and dollars of 1976 (and, technically, 1975). The small Canadian coin features a blue ocean at the bottom of the reverse, on which Bluenose is sailing. The coin commemorates the 100th anniversary of Bluenose. The mint also issued some non colorized versions, with 9 million not colorized, and six million with the blue ocean.
Collectors have always been up-in-arms about whether or not coins should be colorized. The people for colorizing coins say that color will add a new appeal to coins, which might draw in a younger generation. Meanwhile, people who are against colorized coins say that part of the appeal is that coins DON'T have color. I personally think that colorized coins are not appealing, but if it brings more young people into the hobby, I'm all for it.
The US mint did a sort of trial run in 2019 when they released the basketball commemorative coins. These special coins commemorated the Basketball Hall of Fame's 60th Anniversary. There were three coin denominations issued: $5 gold coins, $1 silver coins, and clad half dollars. The mint did not colorize the gold $5 piece.
Keep collecting,
Thatcoinguy
Pictures from the US mint.
Comments
I. R. Bama
Level 5
They aren't my thing
CheerioCoins
Level 5
I'm not much of a fan. Thanks for the blog!
Long Beard
Level 5
On a personal note, I like the concept of a curved coin with color. Yet for some odd reason it hasn't appealed to me yet like the 2014 Baseball or 2019 Apollo 11. But a good commemorative for a blog topic.
Mike
Level 7
I think its up to the collector. Myself I'm not a fan. I can see the purple on the purple heart coin. But not a fully colorized coin. Thanks for a good one.
Kepi
Level 6
I'm not a real fan of colorized coins, especially for circulation. Once in awhile I find a colorized coin that I like if it has a subject I'm fond of. ; )
Longstrider
Level 6
It's a personal preference thing. Not, usually, for me. I put up by favorite bee coin recently. That one is colorized. It depends on the coins. Thanks
Jackson14
Level 4
I have mixed opinions about those. The ones the united states makes I feel have a lower quality. Great blog! Thanks!
It's Mokie
Level 6
Canada has issued colorized coins for circulation even earlier than you stated. I am not a big fan but I do have some colorized coins, I even bought a colorized Batman "coin" at the recent PAN show. Definitely a novelty item and way overpriced but what the heck. LOL
AC Coin$🌎
Level 6
Nice .
Rebelfire76
Level 4
Personally, I’m not a fan of colorized coins. I feel it distracts from the artistic impression on the metallic coin. As you stated, this tends to spark debate among numismatists. But metal coins, especially precious metal coins, are best served by the impression left by the dye during the minting process, without color enhancement.