Ugliest U.S. Coin?????

I used to think that it was impossible to make a coin uglier than the SBA.

And then the mint proved me wrong by issuing the Sacagawea dollar.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Poor SBA getting no love

 

SBA I actually don't think was that bad, as it was at least an accurate portrait of the woman - the artist made a point of not needlessly prettying her up. I also liked the inner side of the rim with the polygonal shape, reminded me of the Pan-Pac octagonal commemorative.

I would throw the 2016 Mark Twain commemorative dollar and the 2008 Bald Eagles commemorative half dollar into the mix. The half dollar design makes the unfortunate choice to feature baby birds on the obverse, which are objectively some of the ugliest babies in the animal kingdom, while the reverse features an exceptionally derpy full-grown eagle. The Mark Twain design brings to mind the cover art for some crappy educational computer game from the 90s that you might find in the bargain bin at your local Goodwill.





Really though, you could put pretty much any original Mint design from the past couple of decades in this list, apart from maybe the 2015 $100 high relief gold coin. The 2017 black Lady Liberty also gets way more criticism than it deserves (mostly dog-whistle), as it's honestly not that bad of a design apart from the oversized stars and has one of the best eagle reverse designs in recent years.

 

You definitely have to be a bird person to love baby birds. And I do love those little guys they are SOOOO CUTE. Here is a picture of my sweet heart. Her name is Coco. This chicken looked like a
Plucked vulture chick for the first six months you talk about ugly whew.......ugly big time.

 

No its not mostly dog-whistle and its absurd that some people feel the need to cry racism every-time the coin is criticized for having a terrible design. The headband looks like something a child makes in art class, the eagle looks defeated with its wings down and really isn't flattering art to begin with. Then there's the fact it looks like a tool to teach a child the alphabet with how many initials are splattered all over it, they might as well have put the initials of your mailman on there while they were at it.

Gee I wonder why so many people hate a coin where they get called a racist just for not bending over backwards to pretend to love it which seems to be what some people want

 

Boy you are right. I just looked that coin over after reading this post. Sad, very sad. The bust is to small and needs to be larger, it should have been a “nude” bust and WHAT IS UP with the head band, the GIANT LIBERTY and the dates and initials hanging out in the wind?
It doesn’t matter the ethnicity of the subject what does matter is the coin design itself. This coin is flat and lacks depth and is not pleasing to look at. It’s a poorly executed design and it just doesn’t visually flow right.
Reed.

 

They were attempting to do part of the headdress from the statue on top of the US Capital which is why the stars are there but they did a terrible job with it. You are right the proportions on a lot of things are off and very awkward. I don’t have a problem with initials on coins as a lot have it done eligantely, but I believe they had something like 4 or 6 different sets which is just dumb

 

I like the Black Lady Liberty coin, both sides. The only part I don't like a lot are the large stars, they are out of proportion. The portraiture is plreasant, facially and hair. The design is not as cluttered as some coins have been, and the eagle flying is nice.

 

Same here - the design is basically OK in my opinion, except for the huge stars and the font size used for the word Liberty. On one hand it makes sense that the concept of liberty is not necessarily represented by an "ancient Roman style" woman. Then again, I wonder what the next step will be. A woman with a kind of Asian appearance maybe? And I won't even ask why men should be excluded.

Christian

 

Hey, don't knock Where in the World is Carmen San Diego or Oregon Trails!!

 

I'll stand up halfway for the 2017 Liberty gold. I hate the alpha-bits strewn over the fields, and I think the stars are goofy, but I really like the portrait and the eagle.

It bugs me a lot when a discussion of coin design problems degenerates to "LOL she so ugly". I think it's embarrassing for our hobby. Yeah, SBA won no beauty contests. Neither did Shriver. Does that mean we should ignore them and their accomplishments?

 

Yes, yes it does. And while we're at it I forgot to add the cartoon stars headband 2017 Liberty gold & silvers. Although the gold is the more pleasant to look at than all the silver versions imo.

 

New issues are too busy, cramming too much into a small space. The wizards making decisions need to learn that simple is better.

 

Everybody knows finger off the trigger until your ready to fire. This really irks me.

 

Exactly! The US Mint tries to get coins done too quickly. It’s like trying to paint the Mona Lisa in a day. It has become obvious, that most of the general public sucks at designing coins. Let’s just let the professionals design the coins, or we just reuse the old pattern coin designs.

 

You've just described every new US coin design for the past 40 years.

 

Yes
Ugly is ugly. It was ok when coins were struck by hand but no excuse now IMO to have to put up with ugly coinage. That’s what Copper and Silver bullion rounds are for!

 

As an Iowan born and raised (living in Colorado for 17 years) I have to *TRY* to like that coin...but I don't. I've been to Effigy Mounds and it is a great experience, but it doesn't really look good on a coin. It's basically a native American cemetery.

I see Barber coins getting no love, and historically they haven't. I have to admit, though, that I don't mind them so much, although the reverse is far more attractive than the obverse. I should look into collecting the halves or quarters.

SBA: Yep, ugly. Although I have a complete date-and-mint mark set to include the 1998 coins.

Sacagawea: Ugly. The metal looks like a foolish attempt to simulate gold in a fiat currency. The artwork is lacking.

Someone mentioned Eisenhowers: I LIKE IKE!

 

LIBERTY ON VELVET
Dogs playing pool on Reverse

 

I agree, the Effigy Mounds is a horrible design. I don’t know why the mint would think that a mound of dirt would look interesting on a coin. Don’t get me wrong, the Effigy Mounds are important, but so many other things would look better on a coin.