Pareidolia - The Cointalk (Newbie) Enigma

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by paddyman98, Aug 23, 2023.

  1. paddyman98

    paddyman98 I'm a professional expert in specializing! Supporter

    :stop: - Pareidolia is the tendency for perception to impose a meaningful interpretation on a nebulous stimulus, usually visual, so that one sees an object, pattern, or meaning where there is none.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia

    There are some newbies to coin collecting and even some who have been collecting for some time who think they see images or letters & numbers on the surface of coins. They believe they were added on purpose sometime during the creation of the coin.. from hub to die to the strike :depressed:

    Many of us know better of course and understand that there are planchet flaws, laminations and even Post Mint Damage that can cause these “images"

    Here is one of my all time favorites..
    I saw Superman on a Nickel on the top of the Monticello Building :woot:

    Capture+_2019-10-24-16-17-54.png

    Capture+_2019-10-25-06-31-30.png

    Capture+_2019-10-25-06-33-44.png
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2023
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. paddyman98

    paddyman98 I'm a professional expert in specializing! Supporter

    Here is a great example of pareidolia in the outdoors

    Screenshot_20230819-142711-551.png

    Post your examples on this thread! :D
    Coins or nature or anywhere!
     
  4. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    I wish I would have photographed this... Just last week I was riding across the lake. I slowed for a kayaker and kept slowing and maneuvering to see which way he was going.... It wasn't until I was on top of him that my mind realized that I was looking at an odd shaped log in the water.
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2023
    Cheech9712, green18, expat and 5 others like this.
  5. longnine009

    longnine009 Darwin has to eat too. Supporter

    Superman in the first image looks like the Hairy Guy from the Cowsills to me.

     
  6. derkerlegand

    derkerlegand Well-Known Member

    Makin' me awful thirsty, but you ARE talkin' about the face, aren't you?
     
  7. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    That one took me a moment to be able to see the sad face. It's wearing an appropriate expression upon seeing such a slum.
     
  8. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    Oh thanks for THAT earwrom.. LOL
     
    longnine009 likes this.
  9. VistaCruiser69

    VistaCruiser69 Well-Known Member

    That image on the back of the nickel that the OP posted, I think it looks more like the Creature From The Black Lagoon than it does Superman.

    Oh man that's rough, really rough. We used to see about the same thing in the Philippines on our way off the base in Subic. And it was times like that when I was happy that we pay taxes.

    I think the magnification is a bit too much though on that sludge river picture. From a bit further away, like maybe from space, we'd probably see a nice cool stream lined with some type of intelligently crafted structures in the middle of a very hot terrain.

    However, if you walk about 20 feet from your computer monitor, you can see a face in all that mess. Awesome Bro!
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2023
    Kentucky and Randy Abercrombie like this.
  10. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    I was wondering.... Now that I backed away from my screen, I see it too.
     
    Kentucky and VistaCruiser69 like this.
  11. Timewarp

    Timewarp Intrepid Traveler

    Couldn't see the face at first, then backed away a bit.
     
    VistaCruiser69 likes this.
  12. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    On monitor (the way I first saw it), not immediately obvious. On small phone screen, it jumps right out.
     
    Cheech9712 likes this.
  13. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    My daughter once saw a man running a weed trimmer and thought he was walking a dog on the end of a leash. LOL
     
    Randy Abercrombie likes this.
  14. VistaCruiser69

    VistaCruiser69 Well-Known Member

    One of my favorites. My grandfather had one of these framed and hanging in his downstairs bar and I'd always love looking at it when I was a little kid. It always fascinated me. Still searching for a coin with this on it too.

    skull.JPG
     
  15. Kevin Mader

    Kevin Mader Fellow Coin Enthusiast Supporter

    Nice artwork Ed!! Superman it is!!
     
    eddiespin and Randy Abercrombie like this.
  16. longnine009

    longnine009 Darwin has to eat too. Supporter

     
  17. CoinCorgi

    CoinCorgi Tell your dog I said hi!

    Beware the Moon Rabbit!!!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_rabbit


    The Moon rabbit or Moon hare is a mythical figure in East Asian and indigenous American folklore, based on pareidolic interpretations that identify the dark markings on the near side of the Moon as a rabbit or hare.​

    upload_2023-8-23_12-10-20.png

    [​IMG]
     
  18. green18

    green18 Unknown member Sweet on Commemorative Coins

  19. Collecting Nut

    Collecting Nut Borderline Hoarder

    I usually have a difficult time seeing things that aren’t really there. It comes from having a lack of imagination and web it comes to coins, I feel blessed.
     
  20. desertgem

    desertgem Senior Errer Collecktor Supporter

    Corgi, its not a rabbit, its a Camel who dropped its carriage that chopped off a rear leg at the knee. Rabbits are wimpy things:)
     
    CoinCorgi likes this.
  21. Pennywise4040

    Pennywise4040 Active Member

    It's important to note that saying something "looks like" an X does not impose
    any meaning. It can simply serve as a description of a specific shape in order to focus the viewer's attention to that particular shape within an image.

    Saying that something "looks like X" is, in effect, saying 'It's not an X but has that shape'.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page