I am an inveterate Barber collector, and I admit the design is boring and hermaphroditic. Barber coins don't show much original artistry either, with dimes using their predecessors' reverse, and quarters and halves using a stiff caricature eagle. It was this lackluster design which drew me to Barbers in the first place, since I figured they would never be heavily promoted, as were the Franklin Halves and common date Morgans for which I paid too much in the late '80s.
The obverse of the Ike dollar gets my vote for the most boring design, just ahead of the 3 cent silver, Washington Quarter, SBA dollar, and Shield Nickel.
Keep in mind that boring designs do not necessarily make collecting these series boring. Look at all the die breaks and varieites in Shield Nickels and you'll be as crazed as the {insert nationality of your choice] searching for new nickels in the corner of a round room.
If I had to name a boring series to collect, I nominate Silver American Eagles. Despite the great A. Weinman obverse design, (and a stiff borng reverse) it's tough to find these with weak strike, errors, or souvenirs of the hazard of circulation. Collecting these bullion coins slabbed is merely a game of price and slabbing company.
"Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity" - Hanlon's Razor
I'm glad you said that ccex, that's something people seem to be missing here, is that the discussion is about your opinion of the coins themselves. It's not intended to imply that collecting those coins can't be fun or that there's anything wrong with the people who collect them. A lot of folks seem to be taking other peoples comments about their favorite coin series as a personal attack, and I'm sure nobody means their remarks in that way. I said I didn't like the Barber designs and then explained why. I didn't, nor would I ever, say that people who collect Barber, or any other coins are bad people. They just don't hold any fascination for me, that's all.
<< <i>19th century - The Nickel three cent piece. >>
Co'mon, Bill Jones! The Three Cent Silver, maybe. But the Three Cent Nickel?! Just LOOK at that classic Liberty bust to the left here! There's nothing more simple, classical and glorious that a Three Cent Nickel proof in DCAM, or a specimen toned a supher blue!
For boring designs, look no farther than the half dollars after they got rid of the Walking Liberty! >>
I'll stick my my opinion of the nickel three cent piece. I love most 19th century type coins and enjoy almost all of the designs that are out of the love category. BUT for the nickel three cent piece was a coin that I purchased to fill the hole, period.
I agree with the comments about blandness of the Barber coins. Old man Barber was a prime example of a bureaucrat who ran his department with an iron fist. Very few designs that the mint introduced during his tenue did not have his stamp on them. Aside from George Morgan, nobody else got to showcase their talent.
Theodore Roosevelt thought that William Barber was an old fuddy-duddy, and I agree. His dime, quarter and half dollar were bland and boring, and collectors have agreed with that by not giving the series a huge amount of market support through the years. In conversations with collectors of the previous generation, I learned that they felt pretty much the same way.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
Every series has a fan here. So no matter what I pick, someone will be offended and become defensive. MY onl;y comment would be that the coin designs of the last 50 years of the 20th century were made more with mass production in mind and less with beauty. They don't have the sharpness of design of an earlier era. The newer ones are getting a lot better.
<< <i>Every series has a fan here. So no matter what I pick, someone will be offended and become defensive. MY onl;y comment would be that the coin designs of the last 50 years of the 20th century were made more with mass production in mind and less with beauty. They don't have the sharpness of design of an earlier era. The newer ones are getting a lot better. >>
Yes I agree. A lot of people like to take pot shots at the state quarters, but on the whole I've been quite pleased with them. Sure there have been some disappointing designs. I think that the group from 2002 were my least favorite. But I look forward to each year's Proof set, especially the silver Proof set. And when the series is completed, I think that it will be a nice display.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
My favorite designs on all coinage from ancient to modern are the simplest and most boring ones. When the artist can catch the spirit of his times and make a statement about something in a sweeping and simple design it gets my attention. Coins like the flowing hair half dollar and even the three cent silvers are amoung the most boring of coins yet they say volumes about the country and the era. Among the moderns the Ike is also a boring design which was issued just two years after the Eagle landed on the moon and shortly after the death of the man who prosecuted the war against the nazis and led our country for eight years which defined the lat- ter half of the 20th century. Whatever one thinks about dead presidents on coins, the fact re- mains that a more boring coin with all the required legends and mottos would be very difficult to find.
It's the busy coins which I like least from an aesthetic standpoint. Coins like the Morgan dollar and the Washington quarter just strike me as being cluttered. Of course the busy coins can become much more interesting as they wear and change appearance too.
I think Roosevelt dimes, SAC's and SBA's....no offense to anyone. Also just because the design is boring (imo) has not prevented me from collectiing them.
By the way Russ that is a sweet Lincoln!
My daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 2 (2003). My son was diagnosed with Type 1 when he was 17 on December 31, 2009. We were stunned that another child of ours had been diagnosed. Please, if you don't have a favorite charity, consider giving to the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation)
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Anything in Lakesamman's Sig Line
The obverse of the Ike dollar gets my vote for the most boring design, just ahead of the 3 cent silver, Washington Quarter, SBA dollar, and Shield Nickel.
Keep in mind that boring designs do not necessarily make collecting these series boring. Look at all the die breaks and varieites in Shield Nickels and you'll be as crazed as the {insert nationality of your choice] searching for new nickels in the corner of a round room.
If I had to name a boring series to collect, I nominate Silver American Eagles. Despite the great A. Weinman obverse design, (and a stiff borng reverse) it's tough to find these with weak strike, errors, or souvenirs of the hazard of circulation. Collecting these bullion coins slabbed is merely a game of price and slabbing company.
<< <i>
<< <i>19th century - The Nickel three cent piece. >>
Co'mon, Bill Jones! The Three Cent Silver, maybe. But the Three Cent Nickel?! Just LOOK at that classic Liberty bust to the left here! There's nothing more simple, classical and glorious that a Three Cent Nickel proof in DCAM, or a specimen toned a supher blue!
For boring designs, look no farther than the half dollars after they got rid of the Walking Liberty! >>
I'll stick my my opinion of the nickel three cent piece. I love
I agree with the comments about blandness of the Barber coins. Old man Barber was a prime example of a bureaucrat who ran his department with an iron fist. Very few designs that the mint introduced during his tenue did not have his stamp on them. Aside from George Morgan, nobody else got to showcase their talent.
Theodore Roosevelt thought that William Barber was an old fuddy-duddy, and I agree. His dime, quarter and half dollar were bland and boring, and collectors have agreed with that by not giving the series a huge amount of market support through the years. In conversations with collectors of the previous generation, I learned that they felt pretty much the same way.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Franklin half and Ike dollar.
<< <i>Every series has a fan here. So no matter what I pick, someone will be offended and become defensive. MY onl;y comment would be that the coin designs of the last 50 years of the 20th century were made more with mass production in mind and less with beauty. They don't have the sharpness of design of an earlier era. The newer ones are getting a lot better. >>
Yes I agree. A lot of people like to take pot shots at the state quarters, but on the whole I've been quite pleased with them. Sure there have been some disappointing designs. I think that the group from 2002 were my least favorite. But I look forward to each year's Proof set, especially the silver Proof set. And when the series is completed, I think that it will be a nice display.
ones. When the artist can catch the spirit of his times and make a statement about something
in a sweeping and simple design it gets my attention. Coins like the flowing hair half dollar and
even the three cent silvers are amoung the most boring of coins yet they say volumes about
the country and the era. Among the moderns the Ike is also a boring design which was issued
just two years after the Eagle landed on the moon and shortly after the death of the man who
prosecuted the war against the nazis and led our country for eight years which defined the lat-
ter half of the 20th century. Whatever one thinks about dead presidents on coins, the fact re-
mains that a more boring coin with all the required legends and mottos would be very difficult to
find.
It's the busy coins which I like least from an aesthetic standpoint. Coins like the Morgan dollar and
the Washington quarter just strike me as being cluttered. Of course the busy coins can become
much more interesting as they wear and change appearance too.
<< <i>All Lincoln cents bore me to tears. >>
All?
Russ, NCNE
By the way Russ that is a sweet Lincoln!
My daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 2 (2003). My son was diagnosed with Type 1 when he was 17 on December 31, 2009. We were stunned that another child of ours had been diagnosed. Please, if you don't have a favorite charity, consider giving to the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation)
JDRF Donation
That Lincoln does nothing for me. I prefer them red they way they were minted.
boring design would have to be the Capital half dollar from a few years back.
<< <i>That Lincoln does nothing for me. >>
It did something for me. Made me a big fat profit.
Russ, NCNE
It's not the design or the color of any given Lincoln that bores me per se, it's just that I've seen so damn many of them.