Aureus May 2016:
Indritz's coin collection reflects the beauty of everyday art
A soft glow reflects off the dull, metallic surface, catching the rays of sunlight that peer down on it, illuminating heavily detailed designs of state parks or a president’s profile. Coins are often thought of as just money, as quarters or pennies spent at the supermarket or dropped into the tip jar at a cafe. Their seemingly bland, never-ending sameness deters many from noticing the intriguing details that make coins objects with great personal and cultural value.
Junior Jack Indritz’s collection lies in coin cases and safety deposit boxes alike. He’s separated his extensive collection into four categories: old, new, domestic, and international. Indritz also has sets of coins, such as state quarters, state park quarters, or dollar coins, many of which are part of his domestic collection but can still stand alone.
Indritz actively looks for and buys rarer coins for his collection, but many of the more modern coins he owns are ones he has found along the way.
“If it’s part of a set, then I’ll actively look for it but most of them [coins] I just see and I decide to get them,” he said. “The rarer ones, the ones that aren’t being produced, or the ones that are proofs you have to buy...the modern coins that are international or the ones we have here [domestic coins, like state quarters] I just find and I keep.”
Proofs are special edition coins that are struck twice with a die (a stamp-like instrument that contains the image one wishes to put on the coin), which results in highly detailed visuals.
However, the amount of care and attention that Indritz puts into his monetary coin collection comes not from sentimentality; it stems from his curiosity and interest in the the making, design, and stories that surround his coins.
For Indritz, the true value of the coin making process lies in the fascinating stories that come out of errors in production or the material used for certain types of coins.
One such story lies in the cornstalk present on every Wisconsin state quarter, which was incorrectly printed so the number of leaves that appeared on the cornstalk varied in number. This slight imperfection has led to multiple batches of coins that are worth a couple hundred dollars each.
“Nobody notices it because you’re like, oh, a quarter,” Indritz said.
The cultural value Indritz sees in his coins lie in their artistic and historic legacy. He likens them to stamp art, as both coins and stamps have the same kind of everyday beauty that appeals to him.
“People use coins and stamps everyday...it’s sort of art that’s everywhere but no one notices it,” Indritz said. “A lot of people don’t know how many different coins we make...most people might not know that we make hundreds and hundreds of coins for different purposes.”
It doesn’t often feel like coins have a huge impact — they are, quite literally, very small — but the nature of the image they present to the world outside of America is important for students to consider.
“[Coins] are a representation of our government, in the way that a dollar and the [American] flag are representational of our government,” Indritz said. “People should be thinking about what our money represents.”
Coins also represent the time period they were made in. “A lot of the currency we make these days is commemorative…[for the] state quarters, there is a significance behind them. Usually a lot of stuff that’s relevant to that state [is featured on the coin],” he said.
Indritz’s journey started when he first found coins that caught his eye, and even now, he still searches for evasive limited edition coins and Wisconsin state quarters. Continuously on the lookout for another addition to his collection, Indritz uncovers the stories behind his coins, searching for that elusive shine.
Page design: Diane Huang, Amodhya Samarakoon, Meghan Joyce
Junior Jack Indritz’s collection lies in coin cases and safety deposit boxes alike. He’s separated his extensive collection into four categories: old, new, domestic, and international. Indritz also has sets of coins, such as state quarters, state park quarters, or dollar coins, many of which are part of his domestic collection but can still stand alone.
Indritz actively looks for and buys rarer coins for his collection, but many of the more modern coins he owns are ones he has found along the way.
“If it’s part of a set, then I’ll actively look for it but most of them [coins] I just see and I decide to get them,” he said. “The rarer ones, the ones that aren’t being produced, or the ones that are proofs you have to buy...the modern coins that are international or the ones we have here [domestic coins, like state quarters] I just find and I keep.”
Proofs are special edition coins that are struck twice with a die (a stamp-like instrument that contains the image one wishes to put on the coin), which results in highly detailed visuals.
However, the amount of care and attention that Indritz puts into his monetary coin collection comes not from sentimentality; it stems from his curiosity and interest in the the making, design, and stories that surround his coins.
For Indritz, the true value of the coin making process lies in the fascinating stories that come out of errors in production or the material used for certain types of coins.
One such story lies in the cornstalk present on every Wisconsin state quarter, which was incorrectly printed so the number of leaves that appeared on the cornstalk varied in number. This slight imperfection has led to multiple batches of coins that are worth a couple hundred dollars each.
“Nobody notices it because you’re like, oh, a quarter,” Indritz said.
The cultural value Indritz sees in his coins lie in their artistic and historic legacy. He likens them to stamp art, as both coins and stamps have the same kind of everyday beauty that appeals to him.
“People use coins and stamps everyday...it’s sort of art that’s everywhere but no one notices it,” Indritz said. “A lot of people don’t know how many different coins we make...most people might not know that we make hundreds and hundreds of coins for different purposes.”
It doesn’t often feel like coins have a huge impact — they are, quite literally, very small — but the nature of the image they present to the world outside of America is important for students to consider.
“[Coins] are a representation of our government, in the way that a dollar and the [American] flag are representational of our government,” Indritz said. “People should be thinking about what our money represents.”
Coins also represent the time period they were made in. “A lot of the currency we make these days is commemorative…[for the] state quarters, there is a significance behind them. Usually a lot of stuff that’s relevant to that state [is featured on the coin],” he said.
Indritz’s journey started when he first found coins that caught his eye, and even now, he still searches for evasive limited edition coins and Wisconsin state quarters. Continuously on the lookout for another addition to his collection, Indritz uncovers the stories behind his coins, searching for that elusive shine.
Page design: Diane Huang, Amodhya Samarakoon, Meghan Joyce