Many collectors have noticed that some US coins have French models. The most notable is the Walking Liberty, which was clearly modeled on the sower two franc piece first issued on 1898. Going back a little further, the Barber series was modeled on the French Third Republic liberty head coins issued after the revolution of 1871. Note especially the 50 centimes coin which is a very close match to the same-sized Barber dime. The May 2011 issue of COINage states, "Barber was instructed that he had to use the current French head of Liberty." View attachment 140813 The coins of the two nations have several other similarities, mostly due to our revolutionary histories, but the two mentioned above are the cases where it is easiest to draw a line from a single French coin to a single American coin. Do you have thoughts?
Well, the coin in your avatar seems to have influenced the design of the Walking Liberty half dollar.
I don't think there's any doubt, it's pretty much a hard fact that many countries have copied designs or had their own designs influenced by the designs of other countries. This has gone on for centuries and will no doubt always continue.
I think "sashaying" is the only word to describe Liberty on the Sower coin. I like the Walking Liberty halves better. No sashaying, yet moving forward. Very straightforward and American. But both are better than British coins. Can you imagine being forced to put goofy inbred royals on all your currency?
"The Sower" was probably inspired by the 1850 painting by Millet...... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Millet Chris
Marianne is the symbol of France, and you can view many of the artistic interpretations of her in my album...... http://www.cointalk.com/members/cpm9ball/albums/marianne-symbol-france/ There were numerous artists/engravers who were influenced by French medalists of the 19th century. Augustus Saint-Gaudens, for one, studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris for four years. Chris
That is a good point. Farm workers were a common subject in French and French-influenced art of the 19th century as the idealized subjects of the neoclassical period gave way to the realistic themes of the early modern artists. Van Gogh, who did most of his work in France, also has a well-known sower. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Sower.jpg Note, however, that Millet's and van Gogh's sowers are both male and cpm9ball is also correct that this figure is Marianne, the personification of the French Republic, similar to our Miss Liberty.
To bring the topic back to US coins, here's another similarity: LIBERTY on American and LIBERTE EGALITE FRATERNITE on French.
Here's another similarity-- at one time, French coins bore the inscription "Dieu protege la France"-- "God Protects France". The French version of "In God We Trust"
