I've always loved the 1935 British crown - it has such a unique design compared to most other British coins. I know little of art history, but the coin's strong geometric angles apparently show strong influences of the early 20th century Art Deco movement. Does anybody happen to know of any other coins that feature a similar design style?
How about this one from about 300 AD? Just goes to show very little is very "new". What we call Art Deco was simply a rehash of Roman Art of a certain period.
Nice coin. Makes me think of St. George slaying the dragon. Must be the Art Deco version of the story!
Often called the "rocking horse crown." Fortunately, Britain returned to the Pistrucci St. George & Dragon design.
Don't think so; you will of course find parallels here and there, but also lots of differences. What was labeled Art déco also affected industrial design, architecture, and many other aspects. Maybe one problem with this label is that it is posthumous so to say - like Gothic of example but unlike Art nouveau. Quite a few of the pieces shown in the last few posts are nice or even beautiful but not Art déco style in my opinion either ... Christian
Here are a statue that shows the style I believe looks art deco: Maybe to some its not "full art deco", but the coins and art of this period sure reminds me of it. Maybe its not a great term, but I really like this art, and its representation on coins, so I simply use the phrase so I know what I am talking about. The weird thing is that this was not widespread in the empire. I would guess maybe 5% of the coins of this period showed this style, with the rest being more realistic like the coins before and after them. I have no idea why this style was only done for a small percentage of coins, but it makes the hunt more interesting.
Whatever style that could be, it sure looks interesting. And yes, also somewhat different from your "usual" Roman portrait or bust ... Christian
I've gotten some of the 1930s French coins for cheap recently and really enjoy the design(s). I have a circulated 1 franc with a great circulation cameo that really benefits the design.