Ugliest designs of eurocoins :)

[zarazek]

I've noticed many countries have really nice designs of their coins (for example Italy, Greece, Malta, France).
There are however a few countries whose coins are dull, boring or simply ugly.
Which are those countries according to you?
I, myself, consider the future coins of Estonia and Lithuania nothing special. Slovenian 2 euro coin, in my opinion, can be confusing, as the depicted poet's first name is France, thus some people in other countries might think the coin actually comes from France

[chrisild]

As I prefer variety eight different designs for the eight denominations is always a plus. Having only one design for all eight, however ... Thus I find the Belgian and Irish pieces to be quite dull, and also the Estonian design. The best series IMO is the one from Italy. Greece and San Marino are neat too - well, SM pieces hardly circulate. The coins from Slovenia are very nice except maybe the €1 coin which is a little too busy. Austria is OK (again eight designs) but the portraits on the €1 and €2 coins I find somewhat disappointing.

As for the sets with three different designs, I like the Portuguese seals a lot. But the two "newbies", Cyprus and Malta, have nicely designed coins too. I realize that in monarchies this "variety" is more difficult to achieve, especially if the local laws mandate a royal portrait to be on all coins ...

Christian

[Figleaf]

Feudals can be portrayed in different styles too. I like the three different portraits on the Luxembourg series. My present candidate for the ugly title is Belgium, closely followed by France, but I am confident Denmark can come up with something worse when the time comes.

Peter

[chrisild]

The French designs I don't find particularly bad. The Marianne on the "coppers" looks good, and the Sower - well, I like Roty's "old" Semeuse better, but Jorio's adaptation on the 10-20-50 cent coins is OK. The 1 and 2 euro pieces ... the tree is a little too stylized maybe, and the rays or lines between the stars don't make much sense for me. But the circulation coins sure are better than this year's commemorative €2 piece. So if we include circulating commems, Starck's presidency design should be at the top. (Of the "ugliest pieces" list, that is. )

Christian

[BC Numismatics]

I reckon that the ugliest Euro coins has to be the ones from the Vatican City,except for the 2005 Sede Vacante issue.

As none of them are issued for circulation,they are medal-coins anyway.

Aidan.

[Bimat]

Well,If my opinion is concerned,I do not like Euro coins (i.e.design on Euro coins) from Ireland..then comes Luxembourg,and then Belgium..Portugal and Italy are my most favorite..rest are fine...
But I LOVE euro commemoratives! No matter to which country they belong!

Aditya

[Kid Romeo]

I find the Belgian Euros to be the ugliest, I hope no Belgian members here and the designs of French Euro coins to be the prettiest (Also decided by polls in one of the forums I frequent long time back).

[Bimat]

Of course there are few Belgian collectors here
I tend to agree with you,KR.The Dutch,Luxembourgish,Irish Euro coins also have somewhat 'boring' design.The Finnish Euro coins are the prettiest,I think.. (I like the Portuguese Royal seal on Portuguese Euro coins too.Italian coins are also attractive..)

[Kid Romeo]

Of course there are few Belgian collectors here
I tend to agree with you,KR.The Dutch,Luxembourgish,Irish Euro coins also have somewhat 'boring' design.The Finnish Euro coins are the prettiest,I think.. (I like the Portuguese Royal seal on Portuguese Euro coins too.Italian coins are also attractive..)

Oh no he he
What about the French walking liberty designs Aditya? Don't you find them pretty? Even the Americans copied this design from French Francs in their half dollar walking liberty design.

[Bimat]

Sorry KR,I forgot to mention about the French Euro coins. French pieces are nice,but Finnish pieces are better..The Slovakian,Slovenian,Greek and Cypriot coins will also fall in 'nice' category.
No comments on German and Maltese coins,though

[chrisild]

No comments on German and Maltese coins,though

Coward.

Christian

[Kid Romeo]

I have emotional attachment with Germany and German coins no matter how they might look like due to the fact that my very first world coins were German, I have a German aunt and because my first and majority of my coin swap partners are from Germany.

In short I do like German euros. 

[Galapagos]

I must admit that the 10, 20 and 50 eurocent, showing the Brandenburg Gate, do look very sexy. This because, as a symbol, whether of Bismarckian Germany or of the Cold War, it has great political potency.

[chrisild]

The German 10, 20 and 50 cent coins ... apparently the government wanted to have that gate on the mid-range pieces. Don't like the design, but it sure is appropriate for the Berlin Republic. The oak twigs on the 1, 2 and 5 cent pieces are OK; they are a continuation, sort of, of what we had on the 1 to 10 pfennig coins. And the federal eagle on the €1 and €2 coins is fine with me too. But of course I would have preferred eight different designs for the eight denominations.

Malta, well, the combination of a historic site (the "copper" pieces) and two heraldic designs is a little strange. But all in all I like the coins.

Christian