Whether she qualifies as beautiful or not, only the observer can decide, but Fanny Janauschek, the Czech actress who posed as "Francofurtia" for this coin, called by some the "Rothschild love taler" because Nathan Rothschild is popularly supposed to have had an affair with her, was certainly very popular in her time, even in the USA, where she acted for some years after learning English in quicktime.
3 x Marianne plus 1 Ceres Here are 3 different versions of Marianne. I've posted the 1905 20 Franc piece before, but still think it one of the prettiest coins ever. And for Art Nouveau fans here is the 1933 20 Franc piece. And I like the 1851 Ceres too (only struck for a few years).
Not sure whether Janauschek was a beauty, but she must have been a good actress. (Here is a portrait by Arnold Böcklin; she was 32 then.) The term "Rothschild Love Dollar", not really used much here but mostly in the US, came up because of those Rothschild rumors (see here). For a while some claimed, based on a possibly antisemitic misinterpretation of the "signature", that the woman depicted was the actress Anna von Nordheim, and that she had "something" with Rothschild. No idea about his affairs - except that the name refers to the designer August von Nordheim. PS: Here is Francofurtia again, on an award medal from around 1910. Not Janauschek but looks good ... Christian
Young Victoria Here are a few more young-head Victorias, where I think she can qualify as pretty. The mature heads are impressive as coins, but the portraits can in no way qualify as beautiful.
Milda: ideal of Latvian beauty Here is the 5 Lati coin struck from 1929 to ca. 1934? Zelma Brauere, a proof-reader at the State Securities Commission noted for her beauty, modelled "Milda", the idealized Latvian maiden. This coin was much prized during the long dark years of first Nazi, then Soviet occupation, as an icon of free Latvia.
Maria Theresia Once again, everyone must decide for him/herself whether she should be regarded as beautiful or not, but the original coin was so popular the Austrians restruck it on and off for decades. Interestingly, it was enormously popular in Eritrea, so much so that the Italian occupiers figured they could do that too and brought out the "Tallero" pictured below.
Very nice design indeed. Milda even had a comeback this year, on a collector coin which is basically a 2012 copy of the original piece. Here is more information, from the central bank, about the old and new design. This is a large image of Milda's head. And by the way, Latvia still plans to introduce the euro in 2014. While I do not know how realistic that is, they plan to put "Milda" on the €1 and €2 circulation coins. Christian
That may be so, but the coin is properly called the "Winged Liberty Dime". The bust depicted is that of a female Miss Liberty, with a phrygian cap with wings (to symbolize freedom of thought). It is only colloquially referred to as the "Mercury Dime", and does not depict Mercury.
I don't like getting slapped by 1950's television stars ghosts anymore. Those images are not posted here on CT.
Well, that Maja Desnuda coin was issued by the Spanish Mint (10,000 pesetas 1996). It's pretty big, by the way, diameter about 7 cm. Goya's painting, which the piece basically depicts, can be visited at the Prado museum in Madrid, along with the Maja Vestida. That museum is, gasp, open to the public. Christian
O-M-G ,,,..Looks like one of those "after" photos of someone who's been on meth. Read more: http://www.cointalk.com/t218162/#ixzz2EfIZKFoj
Aphrodite medal was struck by Anton Bovy as an apprentice to James Pradier in Paris. Pradier was the Michael Jordan of the sculpture salons in Paris back in the 1830s. Bovy's piece was struck at Studio Pradier around 1828. Extremely rare medal, only a few dozen known of which most are in museums. Bovy went on to become the most prolific die sinker in Swiss history, creating most of the Swiss shooting taler designs of the 19th century. But his real early work when he wasn't being commissioned is far and away the very best in my opinion.