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50p - The British Fifty Pence - Part 1, the large size

Started by UK Decimal +, December 07, 2009, 01:06:32 PM

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tonyclayton

Quote from: Figleaf on January 07, 2010, 01:02:36 AM
I think you will like the picture even better if you tone down the blue a bit.

Peter

On my screen your version looks red....and mine black, with the background very close to the original

UK Decimal +

Back to the 'hands' of 1973, the only version that I have heard about is the one that I used in the main narrative.

I'm posting the illustration of the reverse again and you will note that every hand is different in some way.   One of them has to be the smallest.   I cannot imagine that the heads of state posed for the design so the hands are probably shown at the designer's whim.   'Artistic licence' probably applies here.

Bill.
Ilford, Essex, near London, England.

People look for problems and complain.   Engineers find solutions but people still complain.

SandyGuyUK

Quote from: UK Decimal + on January 08, 2010, 03:50:44 PM
Back to the 'hands' of 1973, the only version that I have heard about is the one that I used in the main narrative.

I'm posting the illustration of the reverse again and you will note that every hand is different in some way.   One of them has to be the smallest.   I cannot imagine that the heads of state posed for the design so the hands are probably shown at the designer's whim.   'Artistic licence' probably applies here.

Bill.
Looking at the picture again, I'd actually say that there are *three* female hands - one to the right of "50", one at the middle/bottom and one above "1973".  Maybe this could be the hands of other female heads of state - Denmark and Netherlands?
Ian
UK

Vincent

Quote from: Figleaf on December 07, 2009, 09:08:51 PM
At the time they were issued, there were rumours that the 1973 issue consisted of coins with equal sized hands and coins with a small hand at 3 o'clock. I don't hear this anymore. Was it a numismatic legend?

Peter

The story that I recall is this: Four countries were expected to join the EEC on January 1st 1973: the UK, Ireland, Denmark and Norway. A 50 p coin was designed with ten hands, representing the expected ten member states. Then there was a referendum in Norway, where the pro-EEC side lost. Therefore, the design had to be changed, so that two normal hands were replaced with one slim ("feminine") hand + wrist. This is the version that was ultimately released in the form of a physical coin.

I can imagine that a photo of the artist's plaster version of the design had been released in the media before the Norwegian referendum, and - if so - there could have been rumours arising about two different versions of the coin.