What in the world was the mint thinking????

Think they should have had a contest like they did with the Elvis stramp,
do you want the young energetic Elvis or the old fat Elvis. Of course the young Elvis won. With susan there , it would probably be pointless

 

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I read an article somewhere that said Gasparro made the Susan B. coin look as unattractive as possible on purpose so that would be rejected. He actually wanted his design of Miss Liberty on the dollar coin.

Lou

 

Too bad USA mint make Randy L' Teton not look as good on coin as look in photographs. She is probably best looking woman ever on USA coin.

 

Again, I am shown I'm no expert in the matter - cool - good to learn something I didn't know before I made the remark. Another learning experience - thank you...

I do have to wonder though what the original George W. would think now. When he signed the coinage law he had a lot of history he had lived through to support his position. Time does have a way of changing opinions and softening views based on the behavior of individuals or groups.

Back in the day it is an easy argument, but today maybe he would reconsider the position? He did help form the type of government that would allow the people to make changes based on the will of the people. With the assault on our way of life and our way of thinking, maybe the country needs to remember those who gave so much to give us our freedoms. I know its a slippery slope into some serious political debates and I do not want to really go there, but I do have to wonder what our founding fathers would think of the situation after WWII and more importantly the attack on our current way of life (911 and everything after). While I don't always agree with some of the decisions our government makes and I am a democrat by nature (which says a lot these days, although my former military experience puts me much more in the middle), I wonder how the men and women that helped form our nation would feel about the original coinage laws applied to today’s American landscape???

 

Jackson was a great President and it would take a long irrelavent thread to flesh it all out, BUT, what is ironic is that jackson was opposed to the Bank!

Ruben

 

You might like then, but my point is, being that Susan B Anthony is a women, her attractiveness becomes a major issue. She was an important historical figure in her own right. Personally I don't believe she was important enough to be minted on a coin. But putting that aside, assuming she was important enough to be minted on a coin, her looks are irrelevent, just as they are for Churchill, Lincoln and Washington. And IMO nothing is more ugly than the current Jefferson Nickle.

Was the art down with dignaty and have an asthetic message? I leave that up to you to decide, but just because Anthony was not a looker like Mundy, is no reason to dislike the coin.

BTW - I'm in the camp that wants to just end the portraits, at least such as they are. I'd like to see Iwo Jima on the Half, the Shuttle on the Quater, the Jackson Hole arch on the dime and The Twin Towers on the nickle.

Ruben

 

That is a beautiful coin. I only own one SBA, a 1981 that my brother found on the sidewalk a little ways from our house. I bought it from him for $2.
I definitely agree that Frank Gasparro's design is way better.

 

Tom,

Your understanding is the same as mine. Putting President Washington on currency and coin is intended to honor him, but instead ends up mocking what he stood for. Jackson likewise should not be on the currency, but I still consider him one of our greatest presidents, and he apparently had a better understanding of both the Constitution and monetary policy than most modern politicians.

Anyway, I'd love to see modern circulation coinage return to the use of images of liberty.

 

Lou:
If that is the case, then the mint is definately blind. And so are those who select our coinage.
They all stink.

 

Actually Gasparro made his original SBA design using a younger more attractive portrait of Anthony (From when she was in her twenties) Anthony's family complained that Gasparro had "prettied" her up too much and insisted that he use portraits from much later in her life when she was an activist (and much less attractive), because it was the appearance that most people remembered her by.

It really isn't fair to judge or condemn someone for there actions based on today's sensibilities. Jackson's actions at the time were considered by many to be right and proper Today we see it as a violation of human rights and dignity. Back then it was seen as just running off undesirably vermin. Much like we would do today with a pack of feral dogs running around your neighborhood. If we judge by today's standards we need to condemn a great many of our founding fathers and early presidents as slave owners. (Some apologists like to point out that Washington freed his slaves. Yes, in his will after he had died and no longer needed them.)

 

Take any further discussion of the merits of any particular president to the Politics, Religion and World Events Forum so this thread about the merits of the SBA design can remain open. Thank you.

 

I have a Coins magazine form March 1979 and on page 111 there's a picture of Frank Gasparro reviewing his handiwork (Susan B. coin), as the mag says. He is standing with the Mint Director, Under Secretary and the U. S. Treasurer. I wonder why he's not smilling in the picture?

Lou

 

Politics, Religion, and World Events Forum?

I looked around, but did not find the "Politics, Religion, and World Events Forum" that you mentioned. Can you provide a link please?

I can see that there is a grey area here... as all coin designs are politically motivated, and therefore comments on coin design precepts (as opposted to artistic interpretation or execution) will inevitably have political overtones. Coins are and have always been a form of advertisement for the issuing entity, a way of expressing the power and authority of the people in charge as well as portraying in the concise language of coins the historical story that those in power wish to have accepted.... whether it is true or not. Therefore opposition parties, variant opinions, and disenfranchised minorities will inevitably often have grievances with the designs chosen that they interpret as humiliating or untrue. This is simply part of the discussion of coin design. But I also see the point that the ensuing political debates can become fractious if and when they impinge on modern or current administrations, and therefore a separate forum for the purpose might be in order.

But is there one?

 

Click on "User CP" at the top of any page, or click on "Quick Links" and then "Edit my Profile". Then scroll down to the "Group Memberships" line at the left of the page, click on it, and join the General Discussion and/or PRWE forum.

 

Politics and such

Thanks Roy... found it... I didn't realize those two other opt-in forums even existed.

 

Looked a quite a few photos of SBA and the coin has to be one of the best looking images of her I've seen and does closly resemble her younger image. Still like the one posted in this thread better... Thanks for sharing.

 

I have always liked the SBA coin...I never get the fuss over it...When I was young and first got one (one I still have today) I was thrilled...

 

It's easy to knock Susan B as a frump, but if you're looking for the hottest babe displayed in recent coinage, the Dolley Madison commemorative silver dollar from 1999 ain't too shabby. Hey Dolley, nice donuts!
:goofer:

 

I second that! A new depiction of Liberty or something along those lines would satisfy most numismatics. I love the reverse of the SAC, but the obverse is terrible, just like the obverse of Margaret Hamilton from the Wizard of Oz better known as our SBA dollars.

See this link for better designs:

http://home.earthlink.net/~smalldollars/dollar/page17.html

 

MIDAS,
Welcome back it's nice to see you post again.