Not so many years ago, redesign of regular U.S. coinage was a hot-button issue in our hobby. Diane Wolf, a member of the federal Commission of Fine Arts, spearheaded a lively campaign that gained widespread support among collectors and even attracted some backers on Capitol Hill.

The issue has receded in recent years. Resistance in Congress and at the U.S. Mint blunted the campaign before it could pick up a full head of steam. Commemorative coinage, with all its attendant abuses, drew the hobby's attention away -- and even led many (including this writer) to question the wisdom of changing our regular coins at a time when bad designs were running rampant on new "commems."

Perhaps the biggest reason we've heard so little lately on redesign, however, is that we are seeing so many new designs on the statehood Washington quarters. These, plus the emergence of the Sacagawea dollar, a totally new coin not only in design but also in composition, have created the impression that our coinage is indeed being redesigned -- every 10 weeks, before our very eyes.

The statehood quarter program has been a real bonanza for the coin collecting hobby; some have suggested, in fact, that it's giving the hobby greater -- and more positive -- exposure than anything else before it. But while we are counting our blessings and basking in the glow of this unexpected windfall, we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that total redesign of our circulating coinage remains an important objective and a cause we should continue to espouse.

Presumably, people in Washington would cite the statehood quarters as a reason we couldn't proceed with wider redesign -- at least not until the conclusion of this program nine years hence. And yet, these quarters' acceptance and success are undercutting the arguments AGAINST redesign which critics, including the Mint, advanced with such regularity in the past.

For one thing, it's now clear that contrary to earlier protestations, the Mint has the capacity to ratchet up production to meet increased demand for new-look coins. It cranked out roughly 4.5 billion statehood Washington quarters during 1999, the first year of the program, and indications are that total output this year -- and in subsequent years -- may be in the range of 7.5 billion. Those are multiples of previous yearly levels. And, of course, the work involved is multiplied even further by the fact that five different quarters are being made each year.

At the same time, the statehood quarters are belying the contention -- advanced with such conviction by redesign foes in the past -- that new designs would confuse the American public. If John and Jane Public can cope with constant changes on the single most important coin in their pockets and purses, as they seem to be doing quite well, it should be a piece of cake for them to accommodate themselves to one-time revisions on the nation's other coins.

The arguments in favor of redesigning our coins remain as persuasive today as they were a decade ago; in fact, the passage of time has reinforced the need for a total artistic overhaul, for we've now had this stolid lineup of portrait-gallery coins for that much longer.

Beyond the 50-state quarters and the Sacagawea dollar, the rest of U.S. coinage is stagnant, boring and long overdue for replacement. The statehood quarters have dramatized the benefits of changing Americans' "change." They've energized the public to take a closer look at the coins we use each day and their underlying history and, at the same time, stirred a sense of pride in our nation and states.

At the very least, why not plan ahead for a total redesign in 2009, the year after the statehood series ends? That will also be the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, and perhaps a grand finale -- a special Lincoln cent -- could serve as a curtain call for the presidential portraits, with new designs then debuting on all five coins from the cent through the half dollar.

A new millennium calls for brand-new coinage. And the 50-state quarters have removed any doubt that redesign would work on U.S. coins. Even from a crass, profit-and-loss standpoint, the advantages to the government are now crystal-clear: The Mint is making millions from seigniorage and sales of special sets.

Far from inhibiting redesign, the statehood quarters should be viewed as an important stepping-stone. Better designs will be needed than those on most of the statehood coins, but the seeds have now been planted.

Let's reap the ultimate harvest.

Ed Reiter is senior editor of COINage and author of the award-winning column "My Two Cents' Worth," which appears in the magazine each month. He wrote the weekly Numismatics column in the Sunday New York Times for nearly a decade, and also is former editor of Numismatic News.

Approved designs for the 2001 state quarters