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Round 3 - 1950 to Present - L/O


Guest Stujoe

Which one do you like the best?  

31 members have voted

  1. 1. Which one do you like the best?

    • L. Stujoe's 2005 Marine Corps Commem
      10
    • O. akdrv's Germany, 5 mark, 1978, Balthasar Neumann
      21


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<b><font size="4">Round 3 - 1950 to Present - L/O (</font></b><font size="4"><a target="_blank" href="

http://www.stujoe.com/pci5/pci5.htm">CompetitionProgress</a><b>)<br></b></font><br><br><font size="4"><b>L. Stujoe's 2005 Marine Corps Commem <br></b></font><img border="0" src="http://www.omnicoin.com/coins/902090.jpg" width="605" height="320"><br><b><i><a href="http://www.omnicoin.com/coin_view_enlarge.aspx?id=902090" target="_blank">OmniCoinDescription</a></i></b><br><br><b><font size="4">Versus</font></b><br><br><b><font size="4">O. akdrv's Germany, 5 mark, 1978, Balthasar Neumann     <br></font></b><img border="0" src="http://www.omnicoin.com/coins/891920.jpg" width="605" height="320"><br><b><i><a href="http://www.omnicoin.com/coin_view_enlarge.aspx?id=891920" target="_blank">OmniCoin Description</a></i></b>

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The requirements of modern coin production too often lead to boring designs like the US coin or open the door to creativity like the German design. I go with the creative spirit. The US can do it, consider the new Jefferson nickel obverse design. We need more creativity along that line.

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The requirements of modern coin production too often lead to boring designs like the US coin or open the door to creativity like the German design.

 

I somewhat agree with you in general terms but, I think in the case of the Marine commem, it really does well commemorate what it is supposed to very well. It is a simple design but I don't find it boring. I am glad they didn't treat it like a state quarter and try to fill up every inch of available space.

 

The German design is certainly creative, I like the reverse (Is that a church of some kind?) quite a bit. But, that bird on the obverse (eagle? parrot? what?) went horribly wrong, in my eyes. Kind of like the eagle on the Bridgeport Connecticut commem. They let their creativity get a bit out of hand for my tastes. :ninja:

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Kind of like the eagle on the Bridgeport Connecticut commem. They let their creativity get a bit out of hand for my tastes. ;)

 

I love that eagle

:ninja:

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The symbolism of the eagle triumphing over the entire world is not terribly appealing in my opinion. Now the other side is well designed. Voted for Neumann though.

 

The eagles on German coins, especially commems, often look strange. Problem is, the federal eagle is something that has to be on every "high value" coin, ie. not pfennigs and cents but mark and euro pieces. The style of the eagle has to be adapted to the overall style of a given coin; what was and is to be avoided is a uniform "seal" like what most Eastern Bloc countries had on their coins. Sometimes the result is very neat, sometimes it's awful.

 

And yes, that is a church. Balthasar Neumann was a famous baroque architect; among his primary works are parts of the "Residenz" castle in Würzburg (BY) and Augustusburg castle in Brühl near Cologne (NW). The coin, however, shows Vierzehnheiligen (lit. Fourteen Saints), in Northern Bavaria. Don't like baroque churches very much, but that is a jewel. Here are some nice panorama views:

 

http://www.vierzehnheiligen.de/rundum/rundum.htm

(Try "Altar Erscheinung" or better yet "Altar".)

 

Neumann was also depicted on the 50 DM note of the last Deutsche Mark series.

http://aes.iupui.edu/rwise/banknotes/Germa...donatedao_f.jpg

http://aes.iupui.edu/rwise/banknotes/Germa...donatedao_b.jpg

 

Errm, hope I did not take this too far away. :ninja:

 

Christian

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Errm, hope I did not take this too far away.  ;)

 

Christian

 

Not at all. I appreciate the info.

 

And, just in case some don't know about the reverse. It is the Marine Corps seal.

 

http://www.uspharmd.com/usmc/mcseal.htm

 

It would have been a tough sell to get them to PC it up for international consumption. :ninja:

 

The reverse is why I am surprised that this coin had as long a run in this competition as it has. I think it was the last US coin standing in this category. ;)

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It would have been a tough sell to get them to PC it up for international consumption. :ninja:

Hehe, true - and thanks for the info. Actually the other side, with the Iwo Jima "scene", is quite impressive, partly due to what is depicted (that has become an icon well known in many parts of the world) but also how the designer put it on the coin. The size of the text around is not too big, so the image pretty much speaks by itself. I may well have voted for the USMC dollar ... had the "competitor" in this round not been that Neumann coin. ;)

 

Christian

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