coin design was doomed

The top-right side of the banner that contains "In God We Trust" looks like a snake.
What is your deduction of Barber's hidden message here ?
Garden of Eden or just that it represents all the polititians that wriggle around on their bellies in Washington ?

 

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Is the snake alive or dead? what is the symbolic meaning ? can you break the barber code? :smile ozarktravler

 

For the record I don't really care. I LIKE Trade Dollars.

Apparently the Chinese do too.

 

Ditto

I like them to , can't wait to find a nice Trade dollar .:hatch::hammer:

 

Since ancient times, snakes have been a symbol of deceit and evil. Even the bible says so! But the Greeks thuoght of the snake as a symbol of wisdom and knowledge. The whole obverse looks very Greek to me, so maybe it has something to do with that.

Kicks

 

The Trade series is a favorite for me too. But I like know every detail about the coin I collect. I study every detail of a coin, its designer/engraver, down to the initials. As the history of a coin is as important to me as the grade & value. The Barber coin never had a chance, was doomed when minted as silver dumped on the market. I would like to have each variety, and type as several do exist. One rare example is the bare breast variety. ozarktravler

 

Long before Buffalo Nickels were carved into Hobo Nickels Trade Dollars and Seated Liberty Dollars were carved into a variety of humorous designs. The "Potty Dollar" (with Liberty sitting on a chamber pot) is one of my favorites.

 

Like to know where you got your information , or is this just a conspirisy theory like the 2nd shooter on the grassey knoll . As for the snake maybe it's just a banner , our minds like to form familiar things we know out of random lines , like when people see the image of the Virgin Mary in stains on the side of a wall . JMHO
rzage

 

I vote for the conspricy theory. If there really were things in the design that resulted in the widespread rejection of the coins I'm sure they would have been discussed in the contemporary newspaper and magazine articles of the day. Sorry no such articles. So any story that the design killed it is almost certainly a myth. (Just like the Josh Tatum story and the racketeer nickel, or the "great public outcry" that resulted in the covering of Libertys bare breast on the standing quarter, both myths with no truth to them. Neither of them have any evidence from contemporary accounts.)

And if it were possible to put sign and symbols on the coin to make the public reject it, why in the world would the designer of the coin do that? I can't imagine any coin designer trying to make sure that the coins he designs DON'T circulate. That's like saying "I don't want this job, please fire me.". If he doesn't want it, then why not just quit. Just doesn't add up.