Communist themes on coins

[<k>]

Here we see an image of the reverse of the Romanian 20 lei of 1951.

It carries a similar design to the 50 bani illustrated in one of the posts above.

[Figleaf]

Incidentally, I think the 3 lei above shows an oil cracker with drilling towers in the background, while the plant on the 20 lei may be a coke-driven steel smelter. The heroic smith has of course long been replaced by rolling mills and other machinery. Together, they illustrate quite nicely the communist's priority for heavy industry.

Peter

[<k>]

Poland, 20 zloty, 1974.  Agriculture + concrete.

Who else but communists would think of depicting a soulless high-rise apartment block next to a field?

[<k>]

Hungary, 50 filler, 1948.  Worker.

[Magus]

Soviet Union, 50 kopeks, 1924. Worker.

[Magus]

Soviet Union, 1 rouble, 1924. Worker and farmer.

[Prosit]

Socialism on coins ...I find that a difficult concept to wrap my mind around.
Socialist designs sure; but are they communicating the concept of Socialism?
Sorry, I don't see that on these coins. I mostly see laborers.  The concept that they are
laboring for a common good...not communicated to me purely by the design.

I have yet to see a coin that communicates the concept of Socialism, Communism, Democracy on coins without
me adding some "concept of the intent of the design" to the design. Nothing inherent in the actual design itself.

Socialism, Communism, Democracy...not sure it can be communicated effectively by any design that does not depend on the viewers
adding their viewpoint...ie an outsider alien would not say, after looking at the design, oh this is Socialism, Communism or Democracy being depicted.

Dale

[<k>]

You have a point, Dale. The defunct 50 Pfennig coin of the Federal Republic of Germany, with barefoot woman peasant, always looks somehow socialist to me. And chrisild has explained how one unused Nazi coin design was eventually used by the communists in the GDR.

FAO coins often use designs of agricultural workers, so their depiction is not specifically socialist, though it is usually Third World countries that issue such designs, and such countries have often enough been semi-socialistic. Otherwise, it has been mostly the communist countries which depicted the working classes and peasantry, and maybe that's a good thing, as they have been traditionally neglected on Western designs.

When I look at those Soviet designs, though, their style looks typically "socialist realist" (not realist in our terms, though), depicting the workers as strong but calm, dignified in their labour, and staring optimistically into a sunlit future. The coin displayed by Magus fits the bill and is distinctly propagandistic: the smiling workers are saying, "This is OUR future, and we're happy with it!"

[bart]

Besides of designs: there are also the coins with socialist-communist motto.

I am thinking of the Russian coins with the marxist motto "Proletarians of all countries, Unite!"

Bart

[<k>]

And seeing the hammer and sickle there, Bart, reminds me that several of these designs show workers using those tools - though mainly the hammer.

[bart]

Indeed: the hammer representing industry, while the sickle represents agriculture, both needed to build an equal society. Very beautiful in theory, but in practice the most important force (and not a driving force) was nor industry, nor agriculture,but the bureaucracy of the Party.

Bart

[Md. Shariful Islam]

Here I find socialism in 5 Paisa of Bangladesh.

These symbols of plough is the symbol of agriculture in Bengal.

Plough indicates traditional method of farming.

It also shows a tructor and the cog wheel of industry.

Islam

[Figleaf]

In Marxist terms, industry and agriculture are symbols themselves for workers in those two sectors. This is because in Marx' days, the service industry was quite small. I believe that on this coin, the symbolism is for the sectors themselves as tools of development.

Socialism is a much maligned word. In the US sense, it is equivalent to communism, ignoring completely that communism is just a radical branch of socialism that could maintain itself only through dictatorship (how would Americans feel if the tea party movement would be equated with the Republican party and both be rejected fiercely and emotionally?) The mainstream branch of socialism is alive and well, democratic and a governing or principal opposition party in a very large number of countries. In that sense, the title of this thread is quite misleading, as the symbols discussed are communist, rather than socialist.

Peter

[<k>]

The mainstream branch of socialism is alive and well, democratic and a governing or principal opposition party in a very large number of countries. In that sense, the title of this thread is quite misleading, as the symbols discussed are communist, rather than socialist.

Peter

Fine, but remember that the Communists considered that they were AIMING at a communist society. So far as they were concerned, they were still "building socialism". I know, because I used to watch and listen to the state broadcasts of the German Democratic Republic in 1979/80. The Communists regarded Western socialism as a sham. But if anybody wants to add any Western socialist designs to this thread, that's fine. Were any ever produced for the May Day celebrations?

[Figleaf]

Same thing, but from the other side of the divide. The communists dogma is that they were establishing a dictatorship of the proletariat in order to achieve socialism. The concept is illustrated on that 1924 ruble above. The industrial worker tells his agricultural comrade that socialist redemption is out there in the future. Their concept of socialism is also something that has nothing to do with a mainstream political movement as we know it.

You may want to compare communist thinking to the Libyan concept of Jamahiriya: a state of the people, governed by councils (soviets). The councils were of course controlled by Gadaffi cronies. Gaddafi would have had you for breakfast if you would have told him he was being communist Yet he merrily called his state socialist.

Peter