ikaros

Yeah, the euro "wins" me over on two grounds -- first is the completely uninspired common obverse (the two head design doesn't really bother me, although the blob under Grand Duke Adolphe's nose masquerading as a moustache doesn't gain it any style points), and second is my general tropism toward British coins, even decimal ones. Besides, if you tossed the crown, you'd have to call either heads or headses.

See, I went with the shilling because if it lost any more detail, you probably couldn't identify it as its particular date and type anymore.

Well, there's not a lot of choice but to vote for you in that one category...

C'mon, I can't do this one by a coin toss, there are five heads and only one tails between these two!

And let's go out there and fight for them votes! It's a repeat of the all-Scott final in "You Poor Poor Thing / 1970 and Before", and the final for "I'm Not Bad, I'm Just Engraved That Way / 1971 and After". I don't want to have to decide these by a coin toss -- though if any coin is gonna make you want to toss, it's going to be in this competition somewhere!

Since this is an all Art competition now, if this comes down to a tie, it will be decided by a coin toss like the all Scott competition in the other voting thread, so we can get on to the quarters, semis and finals. Ugly Coin Competition 2014 Ugly By Design I'm Not Bad, I'm Just Engraved That Way 1971 and After Art's 2005 Luxembourg 2 Euro Commemorative Placing two portraits on the surface of a coin is at best difficult. To make the two portraits reside in the same small space and present them attractively is almost impossible. In this case the portrait of Adolphe has a strange appearance. The nose is sharply pointed and the large blob directly below it - his mustache in reality, is really unattractive. They could have done better. vs Art's 1981 UK Diana and Charles Crown A bad portrait. When found in pristine condition the coin is acceptably attractive but one an amount of use begins the portraits begin to take on far less attractive characteristics. The way the portraits are positioned is quite unattractive to start with. Don't like Charles looking into Diana's ear and all that.

If these two remain tied after this round, I will settle it by the toss of a coin -- a non-ugly one! Until then, I want to see politicking and vote-begging that would embarrass both the Democrats and the Republicans! Ugly Coin Competition 2014 Ugly By Design You Poor Poor Thing 1970 and Before ScottO's 1679 Maundy 4d Who knows what happened to this. Obverse is destroyed, lots of dents and a hole, hardly any detail left. vs ScottO's 1696 Shilling, Scottish arms at date A rare variety of a beautiful coin, turned into a love token and almost completely worn away, apart from the key part, and also holed.

The "winner" is: Art's 1981 UK Diana and Charles Crown A bad portrait. When found in pristine condition the coin is acceptably attractive but one an amount of use begins the portraits begin to take on far less attractive characteristics. The way the portraits are positioned is quite unattractive to start with. Don't like Charles looking into Diana's ear and all that.

The "winner" is: ScottO's 1690 Tin Farthing A rare coin, made out of a material that does not survive the tests of time very well, huge chunks missing, and very few details remain.

The "winner" is: Art's 2005 Luxembourg 2 Euro Commemorative Placing two portraits on the surface of a coin is at best difficult. To make the two portraits reside in the same small space and present them attractively is almost impossible. In this case the portrait of Adolphe has a strange appearance. The nose is sharply pointed and the large blob directly below it - his mustache in reality, is really unattractive. They could have done better.

*headdesk* They remain tied! The "winners" are: ScottO's 1679 Maundy 4d Who knows what happened to this. Obverse is destroyed, lots of dents and a hole, hardly any detail left. and ScottO's 1696 Shilling, Scottish arms at date A rare variety of a beautiful coin, turned into a love token and almost completely worn away, apart from the key part, and also holed.

Reminder, voting closes tonight! Since I don't work, I'll hope to remember to shut 'er down midnightish to set up what I really hope will be the group finals. If there are any ties out there, please vote and break them!!

I would say time is the single most important ingredient. Toning needs to be a natural process and anything more intrusive than your choice of folders and your place of storage strays dangerously close to doctoring. Now, I'm not an expert on toning, but I have noted the following. I haven't observed meaningful toning developing on anything less than a coin in AU. Maybe a strong XF, but the closer to uncirculated, the better. I know that there's debate about book toning and I don't want to throw any kerosene on that fire, but the only coins that have toned appreciably in my possession are those stored in Littleton folders. I've had very little to no noticeable toning in Whitman and Dansco folders. The only other ones that toned were some silver proofs still in their original US Mint holders -- and IMO not very attractive. So if I had to make a recommendation, it would be to store them normally, in Littleton folders, and let nature take its course. I now bow out in favor of those with superior knowledge.

There's a tie! Someone break it, please!

And now that I'm home, here it is!

Pictures when I get home tonight, but I pulled a 1964D 90% Washington quarter out of the same machine that gave me the two proof quarters! You know the different *clink* silver makes over clad -- as soon as that hit the tray, I knew I had something different in my change.

There's a reference to 'ten gold dollars' in Loser -- sometimes sung as 'one gold dollar'. The character August West in the song Wharf Rat asks the 'narrator' of the song for a dime, and the song Jack Straw refers to 'four bucks in change'. Those are the only ones that immediately leap to mind, but I shouldn't be surprised to find more... none of them refer to any specific coin, that I've been able to think of, although guesses can be made. When 'Loser' is sung with the 'one gold dollar' lyric, there's only a limited number of possible coins that it could refer to, at least. I'll have to stroll through my collection and see if I can find any more... Oh, and 'Mexicali Blues' has the line 'a peso in my hand', but it isn't clear if it's a coin or a bill. I'd like to think it's a gold peso of the late 1800s.

I'm not a basketball fan, but I am a huge Deadhead, and the 1992 Lithuanian Olympic Basketball Team is one of those gorgeous moments in sports history -- so when I saw this, I knew I needed to get one.

I'm not sure whether congratulations or condolences are more appropriate in this competition.

And thank you for your kind words! If there's any downside, it's that I feel obliged to hold back on some of my smartaleck remarks for fear of appearing to try to influence the vote in one direction or another... maybe I'll put them all in one post afterwards and let people try to guess which coin they referred to.

We are getting down to both the nitty and the gritty -- and indeed, some of the survivors to this point look like they've been nibbled by nits, and dragged through grit. Two more finals are up, and we're still struggling to find a final winner in Ugly By Design / I'm Not Bad, I'm Just Engraved That Way / 1971 and After (Group 2B1) -- although that's now down to head to head matches between ScottO and Art. Ready... set... VOTE!

Ugly Coin Competition 2014 Ugly By Design You Poor Poor Thing 1970 and Before ScottO's 1679 Maundy 4d Who knows what happened to this. Obverse is destroyed, lots of dents and a hole, hardly any detail left. vs ScottO's 1696 Shilling, Scottish arms at date A rare variety of a beautiful coin, turned into a love token and almost completely worn away, apart from the key part, and also holed.

Ugly Coin Competition 2014 Ugly By Design I'm Not Bad, I'm Just Engraved That Way 1971 and After Art's 1981 UK Diana and Charles Crown A bad portrait. When found in pristine condition the coin is acceptably attractive but one an amount of use begins the portraits begin to take on far less attractive characteristics. The way the portraits are positioned is quite unattractive to start with. Don't like Charles looking into Diana's ear and all that. vs ScottO's 1977 Hungary 2 Forint Not a bad design, but the obverse design in its position just looks odd, would look better more central instead of pushed down.

Ugly Coin Competition 2014 Ugly By Design I'm Not Bad, I'm Just Engraved That Way 1971 and After Art's 2005 Luxembourg 2 Euro Commemorative Placing two portraits on the surface of a coin is at best difficult. To make the two portraits reside in the same small space and present them attractively is almost impossible. In this case the portrait of Adolphe has a strange appearance. The nose is sharply pointed and the large blob directly below it - his mustache in reality, is really unattractive. They could have done better. vs ScottO's 2004 Pakistan 1 Rupee Only thing going for it is the coin is struck in high relief, however the reverse just looks rushed and drawn quickly rather then neat and tidy.

As there are only three coins left, we are going to let them go head to head to head for the final: Ugly Coin Competition 2014 Ugly By Nature Aging Like Mayonnaise 1970 and Before ikaros' 1853 US quarter, arrows & rays Not only is nearly all the detail wiped from this coin, the reeding is all worn flat. vs ScottO's 1690 Tin Farthing A rare coin, made out of a material that does not survive the tests of time very well, huge chunks missing, and very few details remain. vs ikaros' 1916 UK Penny Not only worn, this poor penny seems to have caught the Andromeda Strain too, or maybe some sort of metal ebola.