Are So-Called Granny Bait Coins a Sign that Australia is Going Down the Toilet?

[markn]

So here's something to discuss. Last night at coin club someone made a very interesting point about how the style and quality of coins that a civilisation produces can correlate quite closely with the state of that civilisation at the that time.

For example, in the supposed Greek classical period of 500-400BC Greek civilisation was at it's peak and the coins made during this period are considered to be among the most beautiful ever made. Just 100 or 200 years later the quality of the coins had lowered considerably and the Greek civilisation was in decline. Similar comparisons can be drawn with Roman coinage made from 100BC to 100AD being beautiful and distinctive when the empire was stomping it's way across Europe. However, just 200 years later when the barbarians were burning down the empire the coinage had gone to pot.

So let's look at Australia. In 1927 we made coins that look like this:



And here we are in 2013 and we make coins that look like this:



So the question is: What do the coins that the RAM (and PM) make for collectors say about us as a country?