As I continue to flesh out my collecting goals (It's now a century set by region - Far East , Middle East, Africa, Europe through 1600 and then ading the New World and maybe more frequent towards the 20th century) I thought it might be a good idea to get some beautiful coins as they come out. Modern mints put out lots of commemoratives and I'm cool with allowing those along with circulating coins.

I'm a classical art kind of a guy. I like the Texas commem, ancients, and good abstract art, even art deco. I don't like clip art nor much of the US State Quarter Series. COTY coins are usually nice but why let someone else decide?

What are your favorite coin(s) from the past year?

Hmm, of those I think I like the third one the best. What is it? Snowflakes are symetrical and fractal and that appeals to me as does the simplicity. I really like the obverse on the 2nd one as well but I'm not sure if the color on that reverse works.

I love the Marine Commem. I also think the 2005 Britannia is rather a nice coin:


(From Chards http://www.24carat.co.uk/2005silverbritanniasframe.html)

Yes, the Brittania series is nice. I think that is my favorite so far. The marine one bugs me for being a 230 year anniversary (small quibble) and the eagle on top of the globe looks a little odd to me.

This kangaroo might look decent in person too

The 3rd one is from Belarus. For a more detail... http://coinpeople.com/index.php?showtopic=3272 is a whole series of commemoratives featuring holidays/festivals/celebrations. All of them have an embedded crystal and are oxidized silver. The series started in 2004. Oh and that 2nd one is 2 ounces of silver.

Here is one that I had to get when I saw it. I just love the "next to nothing" design elements, yet it fits the subject of the commemoration.

Tiff, shouldn't this be your favorite coin of 2005?



Tiffany Art 2005 ... "from" Liberia. More info:
http://www.coin-invest.li/products/new_coi...005/index.shtml

I am not really into such souvenir coins issued by countries where the local population will hardly ever see them. But admittedly it is interestingly done.

Christian

That's really almost more of a medal, albeit a pretty one. Part of what makes coinage interesting is how the art and science of the coin reflect on the issuing society. You don't get that when you outsource the coin production.

I really like the Mexican bullion as well. Though I could move the year around some with these bullion coins. I just love winged victory

The 2005 British Trafalgar Crown. A beautiful coin.

It seems like the 3D effetc is becoming a more common feature of the design elements these past few years.

They are great looking. I really like the collage of different reverses on the reverse.