Serenus Zeitblom wrote:

Since the Euro people have now accepted the inevitable and started having
coins with zero rotation between obverse and reverse, instead of the ugly
and counterintuitive 180 degrees, that leaves the US as the only major
country with that silly system.

Whether you call the "coin" alignment or "medal" alignment silly is a
matter of personal preference. Being German, I am used to the proper g
way of doing it anyway - with our coins we have used for many years what
Americans call medal alignment.

Around here, by the way, coin alignment used to be called "Französische
Prägung" (French a.) while medal alignment was "Deutsche Prägung"
(German a.). Obsolete terms now ... French and Italian coins used to be
"coin" strike until the euro came; the UK uses "medal" strike, and most
other countries do indeed do so, too.

I suggest therefore that, in view of the fact that probably 90 percent of
the world's population sees zero rotation, this should henceforth be
called COIN ROTATION, and the wacky 180 degree system can be called
something else.

Well, coin alignment and medal alignment are American terms, and
perfectly appropriate for US coinage. So why not keep them as long as
they are appropriate?

By the way, what is the origin of the 180 degree thing?

No idea if any political reasons were involved in the case of the US.
But there is a more general, practical one. Hold a US coin in your hand,
properly orientated, and turn it over, using one hand, so that the other
side is properly orientated. Now do the same thing with a "medal
alignment" coin. Guess that most people will find the former to be
easier.

From a collector's point of view, though, I think that coin sets look
much nicer if the coins have that "medal alignment" :-)

Christian