the most beautiful coin of all time.........what is yours?

this is my favourite from my large collection the french 20 franc tri-metallic with mont san michel on the obverse.

 

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Very nice! Just last year while I was browsing through some listings for French medals, I saw a really nice 19th century bronze medal with Mont San Michel on it. It would have fit in nicely with this coin.

Chris

 

St. George

My most beautiful coin. Is this 1889 Sovereign. The reverse of this "Jubilee Vicky" to me is exquisite.
https://picasaweb.google.com/Ripley44mag/Gold?locked=true#5557658114124507698
https://picasaweb.google.com/Ripley44mag/Gold?locked=true#5557658109846172306

 

Indeed, Ripley, the design of those Sovereigns were beautiful.

I always thought the St. Gaudens design was nice for the American Gold coins.... But of all time..... I will have to throw a couple of my Ancient Roman coins in as my favorites.

Especially this first one:
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Ancient Roman Empire - Emperor Varius 'Elagabalus' Ant "ROMA AD 218"
Elagabalus 218-222 AD Silver Antoninianus (two denarii)
"May your future be filled with joy and success."
obv: IMP CAES M AVR ANTONINVS AVG - Radiate bust right, draped and cuirassed.
rev: PM TR P COS P P - Roma seated left, holding Victory and scepter, by her side, a shield.
Rome mint: AD 218 - 4.31 g.
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I just love the boyish portrait and the detail of his armor on the shoulder.... as well as the radiate crown, but mostly the whole portrait. This Emperor was but 14 when this coin was struck, the year he became Emperor of Rome 218 A.D. It was tough to choose a number one for me, but this is it.

Also, for the reverse of this one:
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Ancient Roman Empire
Emperor Gordian III 238 - 244 A.D
Silver Tetradrachm of Antioch Syria ( Seleucis & Pieria )
Struck ca. 240 A.D

All titles are in Greek, except the 'SC' beneath the eagle, which is Latin for Senatus Consultus.
obv: Laureate draped bust right
rev: Eagle standing facing with head left, wings open, holding wreath in beak, SC below.
27 mm, 11.02 grams
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I just love the Eagle style on this one.... also gives one an idea where the idea for the style of Eagles used on later coins, specifically American 20th century coins may have come from, since the Romans showed the Eagle in a manner of fashions on their coins and monuments.

 

I`m going to cheat I have two favorites.
First is the obverse of the Poland 10 Zlotych 1932 featuring Queen Jadwiga
The second is the reverse of the 2008 Aussie Kooky

 

wow that australian coin is a 'beaut. Such a good lookin coin

 

i think what makes the french coin so special to me is that it was a general circulation coin, i actuall got my first one in my change for ice creams at mon san michel.

 

Cannot actually answer your question in the topic, as for me there is no such thing as "the" most beautiful coin. But I agree, the Mont-St-Michel is very nice, partly because of the design, partly because it has three color zones. Wish we had €5 circulation coins with such features in the euro area. Another circulation piece that I found stunning when I first came across it: the Italian 500 lire coin with the Piazza del Quirinale. My first bimetallic piece, and I still think it is a cool design.


(Image: worldcoingallery.com)

Christian

 

Christian,

That was the worlds first coin struck with Braille.

 

Great! I knew it was Braille but from what I have read, it was not really "usable" as the dots were too small for that. Still a good idea ...

Christian

 

Wow these are beautiful for sure...thanks for cheating.

 

Wow. That... just... wow.

I'd never seen or heard of this coin, this [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jadwiga_of_Poland]king[/URL] (!), or this design before, and I'm this close to pulling the trigger on one on eBay. And I don't even collect non-US stuff.

That's absolutely stunning.

 

Interestingly, that is most probably not supposed to be Jadwiga. Usually that reverse design is described as "Głowa kobiety" ("Woman's head"), and I have seen references to a personification of the Republic too.

"This design is sometimes erroneously called the 'Jadwiga' design, after a female Polish king (sic) who ruled in the late 1300s. However, there is no indication that the coin has any relation to that monarch." http://www.second-republic.com/silvercoins.html

By the way, a few years ago Poland issued several coins featuring coins of the 1930s. Here is a 2 złote piece from 2006 showing the Woman's Head coin. Attention, large image.
http://www.nbp.pl/banknoty_i_monety.../2006/2006_03___dzieje_zlotego_2zl_rewers.jpg

Christian

 

From my collection of Chinese cast coins, I would nominate the Chong Ning Tong Bao, cast under Emperor hui Zong from 1102-6. The script - slender gold type - is said to be that of the Emperor himself.

 

Daveydempsey, that 10 Zlotych is one of my favorites too. I've been looking for one for a while..

 

My most beautiful coin is a fake. Real Dekadrachms of Akragas (a Greek city in Sicily) are the price of a house in my neighborhood and only become available for purchase every few years. This has not changed in the last two centuries so a German engraver Karl Becker cut dies copying the type and his original fakes bring good money today. Mine is a more recent copy made from an original Becker. Even after all that, it is still a beautiful design. The Greeks put some effort to fit the design to the round flan showing the horses rearing around rather than just charging off the flan. The two eagles (my favorite side) also balance on the round space better than many modern designs can do.

The same series also produced some minor types that I can afford. This nickel sized bronze isn't as flashy as the half dollar size dekadrachm but it is real and actually was first spent in the 5th century BC.

 

Caracalla Antoninianus

Beautiful doug, Great coins everyone, I like the kookabura alot.

Wow doug, pricey eh for the real deal, at least you can have a similar repro. I also love the crabs you have (heh that sentence could be taken the wrong way eh?)
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Here is another of my favorite coins of all time, the Antoninianii of Caracalla... some have nicer busts and better die engravers than others as can be seen if you look through alot of them, here is my favorite example of the few I have:
------info-------
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Roman Empire, Emperor Caracalla (AD 212-217)
Silver Antoninianus (double denarius) 'Venus Victrix'
obv: ANTONINUS PIVS AVG GERM - Radiate bust right, draped and cuirassed. Seen from front.
rev: VENVS VICTRIX - Venus standing left, holding Victory & scepter, leaning on shield set on helmet.
5.2 Grams
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And look at the beautiful detail of Venus holding Victory on the reverse, truly a work of art. The next photo of it next to a quarter for size comparison... good sized silver Roman coin, the photo after that is an example of a bust of his (Emperor Caracalla' 'seen from behind', as opposed to the previous which is 'seen from the front'. The one of him 'seen from behind' also has a different reverse of VENUS VICTRIX, which has Venus holding a helmet rather than Victory, and she is resting her sheild on the back of one of two captives that are seated, bound on either side of her.... I could only post 5 photos though, and didn't feel like making a new post.

The next two photos are of what I think to be one of the most beautiful portrayals of the God Mars on a roman coin, it is of the Emperor Severus Alexander who ruled from 222 - 235 AD. This coin was certified, but it was so large thick that it cracked the slab, so I set her free.
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-------info--------
Ancient Rome, Empire
Severus Alexander AD 222-235 AE Sestertius - 22.3 grams
"Mars, the avenger."
OBV: IMP ALEXANDER PIVS AVG - Laureate bust right (frontal), draped and cuirassed.
REV: MARS ULTOR - Mars advancing right, carrying his spear and shield at the ready for action position.
Rome mint: AD 232

ref: RIC 635, Cohen 169, BMC 843.

ANACS - VF20 Certified
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Now these might not quite be the most beautiful of all time, the first two I posted in my last post are my favorites from my collection, but they are all timeless works of art, most 1700 + years of age.

 

Rex, very nice Romans. Here are a couple of denarus of the Republic period that I have. These are circa 120 BC.

 

here are one of finest coins from Russia for me.

 

Beautiful republican denarii Ripley..... I still have yet to add any Roman Republic coins to my collection, but I admire them greatly. I especially like the head of Roma obverse.

irina59: Wow, beautiful coins. You truly have quite an impressive Russian, European and overall coin collection.