Circulation sets: obverse and reverse design configuration

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Guinea, 1971.  Obverse designs.

Here the obverse designs are all different.

They are all portraits - except for one.

The cowrie shell design does not fit.

The designs ideally needed a standard theme.

Meanwhile, all the reverse designs (not shown) feature a wreath.

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PORTRAITS OF MONARCHS

In my own country, the UK, the monarch's portrait appears on the obverse of all the denominations.

This has not always been the case in other monarchies.




Sweden.




Denmark.




Norway.






Tonga, 1975.

Interesting fact: the king is not named on the Tongan coins.

Our forum member africancoins believes that this was unique to Tongan coins.

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The Maldives.

Here is an unusual set.

The obverse designs are very plain.

They look more like reverse designs.


By contrast, the reverses have lively thematic designs.

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Hungary, 1990s.

Another unusual set.

Here the national shield of arms appears twice on the obverse.

Usually, it appears on the highest denomination.

Here, it appears on the lowest denomination and on a middle one.


Notice also how the metal colour alternates between denominations.

These two features make it an unusual set.

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Botswana, 1976.

Look at the obverse designs.

It is another example of "a game of two halves".


The lowest denominations show only the shield of arms.

The highest denominations show also the zebra supporters.


Notice also the designs with the supporters.

Two of those coins include the word IPELEGENG.

This means "self-sufficiency".


However, the 25 thebe coin does not include this word.

Alone of all these coins, it shows IPELEGENG on the reverse.

Surely room could have been made for it on the obverse.

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OBVERSE DESIGNS RELATED TO DENOMINATIONS ON THE REVERSE



Drums: 5, 50 and 500 cedis.




Cocoa pods: 10 and 100 cedis.




Cowrie shell: 20 and 200 cedis.

GHANA: OBVERSE DESIGNS OF THE 1990s

The bush drums appear on the 5, 50 and 500 cedis coins.

The cocoa pods appear on the 10 and 100 cedis coins.

The cowrie shell appears on the 20 and 200 cedis coins.


Did you notice the deliberate pattern?

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Mali, 1961.

All the obverse designs are different.

The reverse designs show mango leaves.


The 10 and 25 francs coins show six mango leaves.

The 5 francs coin shows only two.

That is because it is a small coin.

Its diameter is only 20 mm.

The restrictions of size also play a role in design.

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Fiji, 2013.

Next, some sets where each obverse and reverse design is different.

This Fiji set is my favourite among this group.


In 2013 Fiji removed Queen Elizabeth II's portrait from the obverse of its coinage.

It replaced her portrait with different designs of its native wildlife species.

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Italy, 1946.

An attractive earlier example from Italy.

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Sierra Leone, 1996.

Another attractive example.

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Azerbaijan, 1993.

Next come the poorly designed sets that have all different obverse and reverse designs.

I call them "messy" sets, but "sets with poorly unified design" is better.


Here Azerbaijan hurried to release its first set after independence.

The denomination changes sides from the obverse to the reverse.


Sometimes the date is on its own, at other times it appears alongside the denomination.

On the 50 and 20 qapik the denomination appears inside a geometric shape.

On the other two coins it does not.


The artist should have planned each detail carefully before commencing.

Evidently he did not.

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Austria: pre-euro set.

Even a modern and sophisticated country as Austria produced a chaotic set.

The 1, 5 and 10 Schilling coins each carry a large pictorial thematic design, yet in the case of the 5 Schilling alone, the horseman has been placed on the obverse, along with the country name. Far better to have placed it on the reverse, for the sake of consistency.

The denominations appear on the reverse, but in the case of the 10 Groschen and 1 Schilling, they also appear on the obverse - another obvious stylistic mistake.

The shield appears on the 50 Groschen and the 5 Schilling. The eagle appears on the other coins, except for the 1 Schilling, which has neither shield nor eagle. Perhaps it would have been better to place the shield on all Groschen denominations and the eagle on all the Schilling denominations. Some limited variation in the eagles would have been acceptable. However, the situation as it stands is a mess.

Now look at the fonts. Not one coin has the same font on both sides, and they vary markedly also in their size and their spacing. Another huge conceptual mess.

As for the dates, they all appear on the reverse, except for on the Schilling, which is already the odd man out for having no shield or eagle, where it graces the obverse. Yet more inconsistency.

What more can I say? It looks as though 12 different artists, all with very different styles and ideas, had worked on these 12 designs. I am not a fan of the euro, but I was relieved when the Austrians adopted the euro and at last acquired a well unified set of designs.

See:  Circulation sets with poorly unified design.

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Comoros.   Obverse designs of the coinage in the 1990s.




Comoros.   Reverse designs of the coinage in the 1990s.

Here is another set with poor stylistic unity, on both obverse and reverse.

Partly this is because the coins were added at different times.


Also, the 5 francs coin carries a pictorial design on both obverse and reverse.

It is the only coin of the set that does so.


Three of the designs are FAO-themed, which affects the stylistic unity of the set.

FAO = Food and Agricultural Organization (a United Nations body).

FAO-themed coins were first issued in 1968.

They became regular parts of some national circulation sets from the 1970s to the 1990s.

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Peru, set of 1985 to 1988.

Here is another curious case.

The denomination on the copper-nickel inti coins appears on the portrait side.

On the brass centimos coins it appears on the other side.


Additionally, a numeral 5 appears on the 5 intis coin.

That is in addition to the denomination being shown in words.

The 1 inti coin shows the denomination in words but lacks the additional numeral.

Why is there this inconsistency?

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Bulgaria, 1992 set.

Another game of two halves.

Here the subunits and units are divided by their designs.


The subunits have a common obverse design.

It shows an ancient lion sculpture.


The units also have a common obverse design.

It features the Madara Rider.