Coin designs that don't quite work

Started by <k>, August 08, 2021, 03:55:32 AM

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<k>

#15


Luxembourg, 10 francs, 1977.


You and your tiny images. You make the design look even more cramped.

See: Luxembourg's coinage after World War 2 but before the euro.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

<k>

#16


Canada, 50 cents, 1967.  Wolf.


The wolf is holding up its head and howling. At first, I did not see that.

The animal's eye is not very visible, so that does not help.

The only unsuccessful design in a nice set (Canadian Centennial, 1967).
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

Tirant

I totally agree: Those canadian coins are so... uh... not exactly attractive? "Difficult to watch"? ???

About the spanish 25 cents, i can assure you that they're extremely popular among the spanish collectors, me included. Obviously that means nothing, but i think it's a very well worked dessign. I love the portuguese one, too.

<k>

#18


Spain, 25 centimos, 1925.


Maybe this Spanish design would look better if it did not fill the whole surface of the coin.

It is a very unusual design and good from that point of view, but smaller would be better.
Visit the website of The Royal Mint Museum.

See: The Royal Mint Museum.

Figleaf

Unusual design, filling the space, bold lines, none straight (note how the masts do not even run parallel). Apart from being mono-colour, the design is influenced by the work of Antoni Gaudí, who created a style of his own. As such, it is easy to understand why Spanish collectors like it and a UK collector finds it strange.

My personal opinion is that post-photography design is not meant to be beautiful or ugly, but wants to be interesting and artful. That it is. The whole design suggests movement, to point where <k> believes it is a storm scene. Yet, sailing ships would never be under full sail during a storm. The ship is just sailing before the wind, therefore at good speed and it is exactly that speed that matters to the artist.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

brandm24

Quote from: <k> on August 08, 2021, 03:58:13 AM

Dominican Republic, half peso, 1990.  The Columbus Lighthouse..







A brave attempt to capture this huge monument on a coin design.

However, there is too much blank space left on the coin. Some background should ideally have been added, but the perspective doesn't really allow it.

 
I mostly agree with your assessment. To me the design looks sterile and boring. It appears to be some kind of robo-bug with antenna. :)

Bruce
Always Faithful

brandm24

Though the Sacagawea dollar is basically a nice design, the obverse portrait always bothered me. The face of the figure looks to be an odd shape and its size completely dominates the obverse design. The baby is also distracting. Basically, the obverse is too crowded for my taste.

The reverse is well designed with the curve of the eagle's wings framing the coin nicely. My only gripe with Thomas Roger's design is that it's a bit crowded. The elimination of the 5 stars under the eagle would fix that problem. I don't know if the 17 stars have some particular meaning and need to be there though. They may represent the number of states in the Union at the time and if so would be necessary.

Bruce
Sac 1.jpgSac 2.jpg 
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chrisild

Quote from: brandm24 on August 05, 2022, 06:24:39 PMI don't know if the 17 stars have some particular meaning and need to be there though. They may represent the number of states in the Union at the time and if so would be necessary.

Yep, the US Mint says that "The 17 stars represent each state in the Union at the time of the 1804 Lewis and Clark expedition." The Sacagawea portrait I find a little too ... cartoonish maybe? The design is not an accurate portrait of Randy'L He-Dow Teton (the model, then aged 22 or so) - problem is that there is no depiction of Sacagawea from those days, so the designer had to come up with something - or somebody. ;)

brandm24

Quote from: chrisild on August 06, 2022, 11:43:34 AMYep, the US Mint says that "The 17 stars represent each state in the Union at the time of the 1804 Lewis and Clark expedition." The Sacagawea portrait I find a little too ... cartoonish maybe? The design is not an accurate portrait of Randy'L He-Dow Teton (the model, then aged 22 or so) - problem is that there is no depiction of Sacagawea from those days, so the designer had to come up with something - or somebody. ;)
Yeah, almost nothing is known about the life of Sacagawea. Some details come from Lewis & Clark's diaries such as her death in 1812 or shortly after.

I'm also not sure about the baby depicted on the obverse...it seems a distraction to me. She did have a child only a couple of months before the expedition started but it seems unlikely that she would take a newborn on such a journey.

Bruce
Always Faithful