The Most Beautiful Coins Ever Made?

Beautiful coin indeed Regandon. Could you give me a rough translation of your signature line? The knights Templar have always intrigued me....:smile

 

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Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
But to your Name give glory

 

Thankyou.......

 

I've got to go with the 2006W Buffalo Proof Gold coin; the Indian head cents, the SLQ's and Walking Liberty's (and thus the modern American Eagles-Silver and Gold). That's just for the US coinage.

Bruce

 

I like the design on this Aztec Calendar Silver 2008

 

I think these are the most beautiful coins ever made:

 

very nice! me likee!

 

For that price, I would ship it free too...!

 

Wow! Those are beautiful coins yessian!

I've always loved this coin. It's so intricate for a machine press coin. I wish I had one.

 

I don't know. I think I have somewhat decent exposure to the Arts and the Coins I have big photo's on the wall's of are the Buffalo Nickel, Mercury Dime, Morgan and Peace Dollars. But the prize spot is a Standing Liberty Quarter which is by far the most exquisite piece of artwork ever laid into silver.

It is truly brilliant and a work of artistic genius.

Ruben

 

I agree. And the 2009 UHR version is even more beautiful. Lady Liberty is like jumping out of the coin at you!

Perhaps it is "passe" to vote for a 2009 coin as "most favorite ever", but, gee, it _is_ my favorite, and if I had an extra $1300 laying around (cough cough -- and no family to worry about, and no wife to kill me) I'd be getting one. I saw one at the US Mint store (they have one for display, but not for sale) . . . it is really amazingly stunning in person. Pix like above do not do it justice.

 

I can't agree. I think the figure of Liberty on the obverse does not complement the circular space properly. Specifically, there's too much uninteresting space (walls) to either side of Liberty. Liberty looks "squeezed in" by the flanking walls. As well, there's no continuity in the transition from obverse to reverse. Each side looks like it was designed by
by a different artist.

In so far as design, I prefer the St Gaudens double eagle or the graceful flowing Walking Liberty halves to the SLQ.

As far as the best coin design ever, I don't think I've seen enough coin design from around the world to make a call..

 

Very intelligent answer but I have a few counter points to make. First, the St Guald is a very unoriginal design lifted off "Liberty Leading the People"
by Eugène Delacroix and in fact, I find the design actually very non-reflective of American Republic. In addition, the details and execution I believe are very rough, and not nearly as well thought out as the SLQ.

As for the thought that the walls make Liberty look squeezed in the SLQ, I can understand how you come to that impression. However, I think the device is actually very cleaver in that it slims down Liberty's posture and view while the stairs gives her a realistic pose that enhances the overall composition. The rim design of dots and dashes is daring and wasn't easy to pull off, and the overall design, while echoing to the Victorian, is a bit busy in the Victorian artistic tradition, have much greater illusion of depth that the Guald or Walking Half accomplishes, with a far more naturalistic pose. There would never be a high relief SLQ. It just isn't necessary because artistically it is just more sound in the portraiture of and creation of space and depth. In fact, the Walker looks outright unnatural as a stance and the artistic talent of McNeil over Weissman in the in the composition of the full figure in motion can be clearly seen.

As for the reverse, of the three eagles, IMO, the SLQ Eagle is the greatest ever put on a coin. The Walker's Eagle, IMO, is over exuberant and almost iconographic and the reverse of the St Guald Eagle, while baring a close theme to the obverse art deco like design, is far less graceful than the SLQ Eagle which is probably only surpassed by the Sac Eagle such as in my Icon. The SLQ Reverse has an Eagle that genuinely feels like it is in flight and is balanced perfectly on the coin, with the center of gravity squarely below the midline enhancing the illusion of powerful and graceful lift.

One more word about the St Guald design...to me it looks like Liberty playing Godzilla and trampling over Washington. I expect to see her breath fire and for the horses to scatter as she marches forward.

Ruben
Ruben

 

Ah yes the eagles..why have coin designers had so much trouble drawing this bird.

I did not say that the eagle was crummy on the SLQ, only that there is very little artistic relationship between the two sides of this coin. I actually think the SLQ eagle is one of the better executed birds.

The eagle on the Walking Liberty looks so heavy, I don't get the impression that it's capable of flight.

The St Gaudens eagle is OK but still on the heavy side..it reminds me more of a cargo plane than a fighter. There is however a common stylistic theme between the front and the back with sun and its rays.

The most pathetic eagle of all time is the insignificant bird found on the reverse of the Franklin half.

In so far as the Liberty figure goes on the St Gaudens, even if it is heavily influenced by Delacroix, as Salvador Dali once said " If you don't imitate something, you won't achieve anything".

I like the St Gauden's Liberty because she is dynamic, carrying the torch of freedom and obviously marching forward. The rays of the sun backlight liberty and give the coin an expanding feeling beyond the confines of the rim as if to say there are no boundaries as to what the nation can accomplish.

As for the Walking Liberty, she gracefully transverses a peaceful landscape. Perhaps I have a gown fetish as well. In any case, it appears that my preferences are for dynamic rather than standing libertys.

Oh and for yum yum points I'll pick the Liberty on the Peace Dollar with her slightly open mouth. It made me very curious as to what the rest of her looked like. The hat is cool as well. I understand the model for this coin was the designer's wife.

 

I have one that is similar.

 

Most beautiful coins ever made, ehh?

I'm going with $10 Indian, and $2.5 Indian...
Here is a pic of one of my indians, and I don't have a $10 indian, so time to take from internet... LOL

 

I just know that I am going to get a lot abuse for this, but I think the 1995 Civil War Battlefield Preservation $5 Gold Commemorative coin is one of the most beautiful designs. Many coins look unbalanced, but not this one. The simplicity of the design draws you into the most impressive equestrian devices of any coin. The detail and realism are presented powerfully and gracefully. The reverse is an original representation of a common theme in American coinage with an eagle clucthing arrows and branches with a shield.

Other than the Leif Ericson Silver commemorative, this is the only modern coin that I absolutely love. Add to that the relatively low mintages of the issue and what is not to love.



Let the flaming begin.

 

I had forgotten about the $2 1/2..thanks for reminding me what a great coin this is..

I prefer the $2 1/2 design for the following reasons:

The incuse striking (below the surface) was a departure from all previous U.S. coinage. The designer gets serious points for originality in execution and pushing the envelope.

The Indian (er..politically correct Native-American) on the $2 1/2 looks like a guy that can take care of business. The figure on the $10 coin looks like he might need some help in a serious scrimmage.

The eagle on the $ 2 1/2 is definitely one of the better executed eagles.
This is a very fit, low body fat bird.

One of the things that interests me is the number of coins that featured native-american and frontier motifs around this period. Was it because as a people we started to realize that a way of life was dissapearing for the first inhabitants of our land? Were we feeling just a little bit guilty about our treatment of these people. Were these coins a way for us to pay tribute to the conquered frontier and the scattered tribes..

Among the folks back east who had never seen the frontier, there was a fascination about the far west and its mysteries.

 

Well, not a flame exactly, but I disagree with the "balanced" part.

To my eye there's too much space surrounding the main subject matter on both sides. If I had been the artist, I would have used a smaller font for the lettering which would have permitted larger figures. That being said, I don't care for the seriously squatting eagle on the reverse. It appears to be in the middle of producing an egg with some degree of discomfort.

 

Oh how could you forget, I pull mine out everyday...