What constitutes a "great" coin?

Well, here is one fellow's idea of such a coin --

http://cgi.ebay.com/1892-S-Barber-Ha...temZ8362433358

Larry
'but not mine'

Key date - yes, great.... well that depends on what you are looking
for and
what you can afford. It might be great
for someone who can't afford a higher
grade coin.

"Larry Louks" wrote in message
...
Well, here is one fellow's idea of such a coin --

http://cgi.ebay.com/1892-S-Barber-Ha...temZ8362433358

Larry
'but not mine'

Methinks that this "fellow" may be a "filly" and it appears that her forte
is selling jewelry. To someone not familiar with our field, this coin may
indeed be "great." I've seen worse coins and most certainly I have seen
worse hype.

James
'coin photography not her forte either'

"stonej" wrote in message
ups.com...
Key date - yes, great.... well that depends on what you are looking
for and
what you can afford. It might be great
for someone who can't afford a higher
grade coin.

It's all relative, isn't it? I own this date/mint in VG, and by comparison
my coin is the "great" one. But aside somebody else's VF, mine is a cull.
Alongside somebody's AU, his is a cull, etc. It would be instructive to
know what the reserve is. That would give us an idea as to exactly how
"great" she perceives her coin to be.

James

My suggestions of what makes a great coin:

(1) Connection to History (the coin is a historical artifact)
(2) The design reflects the spirit of the country & the age/era of its
manyfacture
(2) Great design (artistic quality, accuracy of the interpretation
(especially if a portrait) & capable use of relief [always keeping in
mind a coin is a minature sculpture])
(3) Use of one or more of the three historic coinage metals (gold,
silver, copper)
(4) Avoidance of crap metals

Examples of Great coins: Bank of England Dollar 1804, Flying Eagle
Cent, Ceylon 2500 Hundred Years of Buddhism 1957, Walking Liberty Half
Dollar (with a bow to Osacr Roty's early French "Sower"), London
Elephant Coppers, Highley or Granby Coppers.

Examples of Pedestrian artwork on coins: Barber Coinage Series,
Roosevelt Dime, Eisenhower dollar (obverse), and any State Quarter with
a state outline on it.

oly




James Higby wrote:
"stonej" wrote in message
ups.com...
Key date - yes, great.... well that depends on what you are looking
for and
what you can afford. It might be great
for someone who can't afford a higher
grade coin.

It's all relative, isn't it? I own this date/mint in VG, and by comparison
my coin is the "great" one. But aside somebody else's VF, mine is a cull.
Alongside somebody's AU, his is a cull, etc. It would be instructive to
know what the reserve is. That would give us an idea as to exactly how
"great" she perceives her coin to be.

James

"Larry Louks" wrote in message
...

Well I like Morgans ...

My personal American coin design faves are the Pan-Pacific octagonal $50
gold piece, the St. Gaudens high relief $20 gold, the Oregon Trail
commemerative 50 cents, and the humble but beautiful Buffalo nickels and
Mercury dimes.

There are some amazing ancient Greek coins out there that give almost every
other coin design in history a run for their money (IMHO). They represent
the pinnacle of the celator's art. Some of my favorites are the Greek coins
of Syracuse, the Alexander gold staters and the Larissa drachms.

http://tjbuggey.ancients.info/beaut.html
http://tjbuggey.ancients.info/beaut2.html (check out that Katana
tetradrachm!)
http://tjbuggey.ancients.info/beaut3.html

Jackie

"oly" wrote in message
oups.com...
My suggestions of what makes a great coin:

(1) Connection to History (the coin is a historical artifact)
(2) The design reflects the spirit of the country & the age/era of its
manyfacture
(2) Great design (artistic quality, accuracy of the interpretation
(especially if a portrait) & capable use of relief [always keeping in
mind a coin is a minature sculpture])
(3) Use of one or more of the three historic coinage metals (gold,
silver, copper)
(4) Avoidance of crap metals

Examples of Great coins: Bank of England Dollar 1804, Flying Eagle
Cent, Ceylon 2500 Hundred Years of Buddhism 1957, Walking Liberty Half
Dollar (with a bow to Osacr Roty's early French "Sower"), London
Elephant Coppers, Highley or Granby Coppers.

I think I would agree with your list of examples, oly. Unfortunately I
don't own an elephant copper or a "Higby" copper (Coin World once called it
that!). Would you admit the 1847 Gothic crown to your list?

James

The Gothic Crown is a superb coin, and fits the first #2 perfectly.

Lots of people want one though, pricey. I would rather get a very
fine/extra fine crown or half crown of Charles II (very tough in these
grades).

The Gothic Crown is artistically superior to the Charles II crown, of
course; but Charles II and his era of intrigue has greater historical
charisma.

Nor do I own a Highly or London Copper, but I do have a NENA 1964
Convention Medal that reproduces the elephant.

oly


James Higby wrote:
"oly" wrote in message
oups.com...
My suggestions of what makes a great coin:

(1) Connection to History (the coin is a historical artifact)
(2) The design reflects the spirit of the country & the age/era of its
manyfacture
(2) Great design (artistic quality, accuracy of the interpretation
(especially if a portrait) & capable use of relief [always keeping in
mind a coin is a minature sculpture])
(3) Use of one or more of the three historic coinage metals (gold,
silver, copper)
(4) Avoidance of crap metals

Examples of Great coins: Bank of England Dollar 1804, Flying Eagle
Cent, Ceylon 2500 Hundred Years of Buddhism 1957, Walking Liberty Half
Dollar (with a bow to Osacr Roty's early French "Sower"), London
Elephant Coppers, Highley or Granby Coppers.

I think I would agree with your list of examples, oly. Unfortunately I
don't own an elephant copper or a "Higby" copper (Coin World once called it
that!). Would you admit the 1847 Gothic crown to your list?

James

On Sat, 10 Dec 2005 09:34:46 -0600, "Buzzygirl"
wrote:

My personal American coin design faves are the Pan-Pacific octagonal $50
gold piece, the St. Gaudens high relief $20 gold, the Oregon Trail
commemerative 50 cents, and the humble but beautiful Buffalo nickels and
Mercury dimes.

There are some amazing ancient Greek coins out there that give almost every
other coin design in history a run for their money (IMHO). They represent
the pinnacle of the celator's art. Some of my favorites are the Greek coins
of Syracuse, the Alexander gold staters and the Larissa drachms.

http://tjbuggey.ancients.info/beaut.html
http://tjbuggey.ancients.info/beaut2.html (check out that Katana
tetradrachm!)
http://tjbuggey.ancients.info/beaut3.html

Jackie


If I limit my choices to U.S. coins, I'd have to pick the Oregon 50
cent commemorative as my favorite. Unfortunately, I don't own one
(yet...saving up to buy a nice slabbed MS-65 sometime in the future).

I think everyone would agree that some of the most exceptionally
beautiful coin designs are found among commemorative issues. And then
there are some awesome medals...

World coins: here's one of my all-time favorite coins, the Russian
commemorative of the centennial of the battle of 1812 ("Borodino"
centennial):

http://www.peus-muenzen.de/aukimages...2/02597q00.jpg

Also, the reverse design (double-headed eagle) of the standard mint
issue coins of the period of Nicholas II (1895-1917) is amazing for
its intricacy...really makes up for the quite boring (IMHO) portrait
of the Tsar on the obverse.

--
Bob Hairgrove