Jamaica: unadopted designs for the first decimal series

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Obverse of the hummingbird 20 cents coin of 1987.




Christopher Ironside's preliminary design of 1969.

The issued obverse was somewhat different from Mr. Ironside's first version.

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I quote the Royal Mint's view in 1968:

The point was made quite forcibly to the Bank that buildings were not really suitable subject matters for coin designs.

Why did the Royal Mint take that view? Coins usually have a circular shape.

Tall narrow buildings and low but wide buildings are difficult to portray successfully.

They do not fill all the available space on the coin.




Notice that Christopher Ironside included some clouds in his design of this building.

It uses up some of the space that would otherwise be left.

See also: How to portray tall thin birds on coins.

Mr. God created various animals that do not fit easily on coins.

He is clearly not a numismatist, otherwise He would have thought about that. 

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Above you see the preliminary versions of those designs that were chosen.

They are seen on the left of each image.

The issued designs are seen on the right of each image.


In each case, the denomination in words has been added.

Otherwise, only the 25 cents design has been significantly altered.

The numerals '25' have been reduced in size.

The pictorial design has been expanded to fill the extra space.

See:  Sets with all sub-unit denominations in words AND numerals.

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Not for the first time, I disagree with the Royal Mint Advisory Committee's view. Your argument on why they were against the buildings is credible enough, but familiar to any photographer who wants to make a picture of a building in a narrow street and easy to solve.

Just represent the buuilding from a different angle and let perspective do its job. The symmetry may be lost, but it will be well-known from classic pictures like the ones you posted. In its place is an interesting and different triangular view with more depth. Another solution is to superimpose an important detail (e.g. the front entrance) in a large circle, which will also break with the traditional rectangular view.

There is yet another solution: an aerial view. Even Before Computers (BC) that was an option. See Numista 25354. The result is excellent depth and an interesting and original view.

Peter

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Yes, indeed, that is an easy solution. There are plenty of fine numismatic building designs, and Jersey has had a beautiful circulation series of buildings and landmarks since 1985. I think the secret is not to make designs too symmetrical, because then they look too simplistic and geometric.