I think the obverse of the Peace dollar is the ugliest. I would also say that the Barber coins, SBA and Sacs are up there also.
Susie B's and Barbers aren't attractive in the least, so I'll agree with you guys on those. As for commems, I've always thought the obverse of the Columbian Exposition half was very unappealing. I've passed on several of these coins just because I don't like the way they look. Has anyone done a thread on the MOST attractive design? Best looking commem ever has to be the Oregon Trail Memorial. Awesome coin...I'm very proud of mine. pCG
Krugerrand. Victor,the portrait of Paul Kruger is actually a very nice portrait.Mind you,it is derived from the portrait that was used for the obverses of the Kruger coinage of the South African Republic. Here's an article about Paul Kruger; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Kruger . I have quite a few of the Kruger coins,plus 2 of the 1/10 Krugerrand coins,as South Africa is a British Commonwealth country,as is Cyprus. Aidan.
I am in the minority, but I have come to like SBAs. They are the last US coin designed with any relief, although they got rid of that for the 1999 version. Churchill: that one isn;t bad either, in my opinion. It is a weird effect for sure, but they get an A for effort. New nickels: looked nice as a drawing I am sure, but I just know that once it wears down to VF or EF, Jeffreson will look like somrthing out of a Planet Of The Apes movie.
Very interesting article and a fascinating life. I have a 1978 Gold one ounce Krugerrand. I hate to say I paid $675 for it back when Gold was over $700. Today Gold is a sad $618. I work with a nurse fron Kenya. She tells about going to the Arab Gold market. It is an open market where you can buy all sorts of gold bars and jewelry for low cost. She says you can dicker with the merchants and get some very good buys. I bought the Columbian Expo coin for the reverse. I just love old wooden ships with the sails all unfurled. It is slabbed and I keep it in my coin case with the reverse side up.
I agree with the majority on this one....the 2006 Jeffersons are by far the ugliest coin since the Barber series....any Barbers are just plain blah!!!
I kinda like that Churchill coin. It's ugly in a nice kind of way... As far as the most unattractive coin... well, I'd have to go with the depiction of LIBERTY on early U.S. coinage (e.g., 1793 Large Cents). That is one FUGLY portrait of Liberty!
I don't know why the Barber always seems to come up in these discussions. I'll admit though that I never thought much of them myself until I saw a good one... :: pause while thumbnails are clicked :: My vote is for the Liberty nickels. In general, I'm always in awe at the finer examples of any given coin. I don't think I've *ever* seen a liberty I've liked, and better examples don't make it look any better. If anything, the less worn coins with more detail only make me more scared. Maybe it's supposed to be "mean grandma liberty" ?
it's easy, the ugliest coin is one that you don't or can't (afford) to collect. Personally I find any coin valued at more than $200 blatantly obscene, at least till I have that much in disposable income. Oh and i'm going to put my neck on the line and say that the 2010 James Buchanan Dollar is still going to look like a Wizard of Oz Commemorative.
I find very unattractive those coins that feature oil derricks or skyscrapers--some of those world coins, I look at them and think, "Wow, that must be the pretties thing they could find in their country to feature on that coin." A few of the Persian Gulf states have coins like that. I wonder if they refused to put on a pretty shore bird or a leaping fish or a yak or a king's head because it's too close to Islamic prohibitions against graven images? If that's the case, they should have just filled the coin with Arabic script (which is elegant and flowing) or some kind of horror vacui geometric design instead of construction cranes or whatever.
Barber If I didn't know Liberty was supposed to be a woman, I'd swear Barber ingraved the face of a man. I do love the Barber reverses though, his Eagle and shields are among my favorites.
I hate to say it, but after looking at those "good" examples of Barbers, I'm no more impressed with the design. Don't get me wrong, I'd be happy to OWN an example of that quality...but it's just NOT an attractive desing.
Before I had a better (more than before at least) understanding of the Barbers, I thought it was a man. Seemed to make sense as many others were "libertys" but "Barber" seemed pretty manly for a woman (didn't know at the time what it referred to). Plus the only examples I had were so worn you couldn't tell anyhow, but... then I figured it out.
Ugliest coin I agree also that the Churchill Crown is the ugliest coin - Yuck! No imagination to the coin at all, and the lettering is so boring. Talk to you all later!:goofer:
I didn't want to be the first to say it but I agree with crispy about the Standing Liberty quarters.I think the lady liberty is static and boring,plus the square "whatever-they-are's" that she is leaning on are extremely distracting to the design.I do like the eagle reverse though. That being said,I'll buy ANY one of these in Fine or better because they are so hard to find.I think I now have a total of 4. Is this hypocritical?
Think it really says something when even someone in the business of trying to sell that points out how unattractive they believe it is, lol...
Actually the side with Churchill is the reverse. The obverse is the standard portrait of Elizabeth II (the younger one in use in 1965) with the date and standard inscription.
