Athenian Owls

[Sylvester 15]

Well, when compared to the state of American coin designs I have to say that I like a lot of the British designs better, especially since the US mint decided that all circulating coins need to commemorate something, and rather than having a single design for even a single year, there needs to be 4-5 different, yet equally terrible, "commemorative" designs and confusing people into thinking that by filling a folder with every different design (all of them with incredibly high mintages) they will somehow have a collection worth more than face value later on.

While I really enjoy some of the older US coins (even more so than some of the British coins minted during that time period) such as Standing Liberty Quarters, Walking Liberty half Dollars, and the $20 double eagle, our modern coins are some of the ugliest coins ever minted, especially the presidential dollar series and the Susan B Anthony dollar.

I know what you mean, I can't wait to get my Martin Van Buren dollar either.

I blame the state quarters for most of the mess in the US coinage system at the moment. Although I have to say the decline in quality in US coinage was noted even before they entered the fray. I'm sure you've noticed the progression to what is commonly referred to as 'spaghetti hair', particularly evident on the Nickels and Quarters, look at them in 1964, the late 80s and then the late 90s, the relief gets lower and lower and lower and as such the lost design elements has to be made up through extra lines!

As for all the commemoratives, well the US and the UK have much in common there i'm afriad, the shift towards 'stamp syndrome' (as I call it), commemoratives for every event (including the sky being blue). I have to confess that as a rule I despise commemorative issues and tend to avoid them like the plague (unless they are Gothic crowns). You should see all these awful clip art 50p commems for the Olympics we've got, what a load of rubbish. Mind you the ever increasing debasement of the alloys these slugs are made out of I suppose it makes the argument almost irrelevant anyhow.

You don't have to say anything to me about SLQs, I love 'em. Teddy Roosevelt was a man with vision when he decided to overhaul the US coinage designs. Don't get me wrong i'm not knocking the Barber designs which can look superb in higher grades, but where else would you get Ultra High relief $20 (a beauty to behold), the incuse $5 and $2.50 (which are wonderful little coins), the SLQs, the Walkers, the Mercs, heck even the Buffalo nickel?

There's a lot to be proud of about past US designs.

[Sylvester 15]

I actually rate the Cromwell reverse quite highly. I like the subtle difference in shield shape and the design with its stippled decoration which was a characteristic of Thomas Simon's work. Though for a parliament that had abolished the monarchy less than a decade previously, the reintroduction of a crown above the shield seems a little strange and smacks of hypocrisy. A clear case of "The King is dead. [hopefully people have short memories] Long live the King".

I always thought that too!

Actually moving into the early milled period, well the reverse designs of the coins from 1663-1813 might not be overly artistic and bland, but the obverses more than make up for this. The Charles II, William & Mary and George II Young Head coinages are beautiful. Although I have to admit my collecting bias is here as this is the period I spent several years totally focused in, the sixpences of these years will forever be my favourite British coin series.

Like these two that I used to own:

Those are the only two coins I sold and regretted it, I think i'm going to have to save up and try and find two like them.

[Red Riley 2]

I'm sorry if I'm standing on any American toes but the Walking Liberty half dollars just make me laugh! The obverse shows Liberty toddling off down the shops, to a baseball match or somewhere and the reverse has the eagle following her. Where are they going? I think we should be told.

The British tradition is to take a pig ugly monarch and make them look like a film star (e.g. William Wyon's George IV). The U.S. on the other hand has the choice of the entire country to model for the purely allegorical figure of Liberty, so where on Earth did they get the lady on the Morgan dollar from? And even worse, the incarnation of Liberty on the V nickels could have been the inspiration for Les Dawson's mother in law!

I am truly, truly sorry if I have offended any American sensibilities, but sometimes these things just have to be shared...

[Generic Lad 25]

I'm sorry if I'm standing on any American toes but the Walking Liberty half dollars just make me laugh! The obverse shows Liberty toddling off down the shops, to a baseball match or somewhere and the reverse has the eagle following her. Where are they going? I think we should be told.

The British tradition is to take a pig ugly monarch and make them look like a film star (e.g. William Wyon's George IV). The U.S. on the other hand has the choice of the entire country to model for the purely allegorical figure of Liberty, so where on Earth did they get the lady on the Morgan dollar from? And even worse, the incarnation of Liberty on the V nickels could have been the inspiration for Les Dawson's mother in law!

I am truly, truly sorry if I have offended any American sensibilities, but sometimes these things just have to be shared...

I never looked at the Walking Liberty half like that, and now that I look at that it is rather amusing.

And yes, the Coronet head Liberty has never been my favorite, and the Morgan dollar is decent, though I think I would have preferred one of the rejected patterns over the final design.

But all that is behind the country now since we've decided to take hideous people from history and still keep their ugliness when transfered to a coin. I mean, sure, Susan B. Anthony was a great leader for women's rights, but do we really need her face in our pockets? Same thing with the presidents. And our state quarter and now national park quarters are turning our quarters into (geographically inaccurate) souvenirs (seriously, the quarter for Missouri shows the gateway arch spanning the river when it doesn't, it sits on one bank of the river.

I know what you mean, I can't wait to get my Martin Van Buren dollar either.

I blame the state quarters for most of the mess in the US coinage system at the moment. Although I have to say the decline in quality in US coinage was noted even before they entered the fray. I'm sure you've noticed the progression to what is commonly referred to as 'spaghetti hair', particularly evident on the Nickels and Quarters, look at them in 1964, the late 80s and then the late 90s, the relief gets lower and lower and lower and as such the lost design elements has to be made up through extra lines!

As for all the commemoratives, well the US and the UK have much in common there i'm afriad, the shift towards 'stamp syndrome' (as I call it), commemoratives for every event (including the sky being blue). I have to confess that as a rule I despise commemorative issues and tend to avoid them like the plague (unless they are Gothic crowns). You should see all these awful clip art 50p commems for the Olympics we've got, what a load of rubbish. Mind you the ever increasing debasement of the alloys these slugs are made out of I suppose it makes the argument almost irrelevant anyhow.

You don't have to say anything to me about SLQs, I love 'em. Teddy Roosevelt was a man with vision when he decided to overhaul the US coinage designs. Don't get me wrong i'm not knocking the Barber designs which can look superb in higher grades, but where else would you get Ultra High relief $20 (a beauty to behold), the incuse $5 and $2.50 (which are wonderful little coins), the SLQs, the Walkers, the Mercs, heck even the Buffalo nickel?

There's a lot to be proud of about past US designs.

Yes, and even worse is the cent. While part of it is because of the shift from a bronze cent to a copper-plated zinc cent, the relief is incredibly high for dates in the '60s, then by the mid 70s it gets a lot lower, and by '81 (the last full year for the bronze cent) the design is hardly there. And today, even a mint state 2011 cent fresh out of a mint roll feels like a slug, the design simply isn't pressed into the coin. Of course, that isn't much of a problem when the coins will rot and decay upon contact with any moisture or any circulation. It is amazing you can dig up a silver coin from 200 years ago and after you wash off the dirt it will look like it was minted yesterday, but digging up a 2005 US penny will leave you with a corroded mess that won't even go through the coin sorter.

And yes, some of the Olympic 50ps truly are awful, though I must say I don't mind the shooting one, and as a trap shooter I might consider picking up one if I can find one for a decent price. And some.... why are they even on coins? Like the Athletics 50p and the Cycling 50p.

Of course, no doubt the Royal Mint will call it a "success" and you can look forward to the Districts of England 20p coin program.

[Red Riley 2]

Susan B Anthony. She's the one that looks like Grandma Clampet, right?

[Sylvester 15]

...so where on Earth did they get the lady on the Morgan dollar from?

The designer of the Morgan dollar was actually an Englishman, who studied under one of the Wyons.

[Generic Lad 25]

Susan B Anthony. She's the one that looks like Grandma Clampet, right?

Yes, and to think that it could have been a moderately attractive design, at least when compared to the final result.

http://www.smalldollars.com/dollar/page04.html

[Red Riley 2]

...so where on Earth did they get the lady on the Morgan dollar from?

The designer of the Morgan dollar was actually an Englishman, who studied under one of the Wyons.

Given the Wyons reputation for flattery, I would have hated to meet this lady in real life!

[Sylvester 15]

...so where on Earth did they get the lady on the Morgan dollar from?

The designer of the Morgan dollar was actually an Englishman, who studied under one of the Wyons.

Given the Wyons reputation for flattery, I would have hated to meet this lady in real life!

Poor woman!