Hi everyone, When I came across this coin I initially thought it was a piece from a board game. I did not think a nation would mint and issue coins with a design like this. The owl is cool, I guess, but it's so small on the field. I decided to show it to you guys and ask what you think of the design and to find out if you have a coin that has a look as sparse or unfinished as this one. If you do, I would love to see it.
Hmmm... As I see it big like that, it looks better to me. Maybe I need to live with it for a while. I just got it today.
Well, your coin is handsome @Nathan401! It looks like thought went into it. I mean, the way the portrait is isolated on the field draws attention to the figure the coin intends to honor. I love that. Simplicity is great. I suppose I was thinking someone could have sat that owl on a branch or something.
If you really want to see simple and probably the most minimalist coin, check out the 2001 France 1 Franc
I assume you are referring to the silver 1 franc coin. They were aware that it was fading away to be replaced by the Euro. Here it is:
@sakata and @baseball21 - That is a simple yet compelling and even pleasing design especially when one considers it was made to communicate (protest, even?) the impending death of the French franc in favor of the euro. The Slovenian coin that I posted does not seem to have an underlying message in its design. But I have not looked into it deeply.
That's an interesting take on it that it may have been a form of protest design. I always assumed it was sort of a modern art type design but I do agree for as simple as it is, it is surprisingly pleasing.
I like owls! The minimalist design resembles this classic coin: Greece Athens Classical Owl Tetradrachm Struck around BC 430
But they also had a gold one with the Marianne design from the regular franc. I bought one when I was in Paris in 2000 but stupidly sold it a few years ago.