POLL: the hot topic for the evening! Which side of the Oregon Trail half is the obverse?

lordmarcovan

...and which is the reverse?

I say the Indian's the obverse. Others say the stagecoach. What say you?

Oh, goodie. Another opportunity to show off the one I dug up.

GAT

Never heard of the date being on the reverse so I vote for the wagon being the obverse. Also,"In God we Trust" is on the wagon side.

lordmarcovan

It's obvious I was demented when I posted the poll. I typed "stagecoach" instead of "covered wagon". Duh.

airplanenut

Technically, I think it's the date side, but in practice, the Indian.

coinguy89

I've seen it shown as going either way many times.

relayer

God says it's the wagon

lordmarcovan

<< <i>Never heard of the date being on the reverse so I vote for the wagon being the obverse. >>



What about these?

Hang on a sec... lemme reach up and pull one off my Holey Gold Hat...



If that's too scary, here's another one I swapped away recently that wasn't holed. Different denomination.

ss350camaro

This side (and it's a Covered Wagon Rob, Not a Stagecoach)

lordmarcovan

Yeah, I already caught my "stagecoach" flub, but I didn't wanna tamper with the poll. It's such a weighty and important issue, after all.





PS- There. I fixed it.

GAT

Lord M....... I am not into gold so show me some US silver coins with the date of the reverse. Every coin I have has the date on the obverse.

FatMan

I posted this awhile ago when we earlier visited the Oregon obverse/reverse issue. This is quoted from Anthony Swiatek's "Commemorative Coins of the United States".

"Acording to Mint reports, the wagon side is the obverse. According to the designers, the Indian side is the obverse. Although I tend to side with the majority of collectors, dealers, and numismatists who consider the Indian as the obverse (because it is the more eye-catching and artistic of the designs), the Mint appears to have the last word, and the official obverse is the wagon side.............

.....What might have prompted the Mint to make the change of obverse-reverse? Previous Branch Mint commemorative coins, such as the 1925-S Panama-Pacific issues, dispayed their Mint mark next to the obverse date or displayed the year of striking on the obverse and Mint mark on the reverse.

The 1923 Monroe had its Mint mark below the date, on the obverse, while the 1925 California jubilee displayed an obverse date and reverse Mint mark. No problems! However, with the Orgegon Trail 1926-S issue, we have the first instance where a Mint mark created a variety within an issue. No problem might have arisen had the issue been struck only at Philadelphia, which used no Mint mark. Unaccompanied by a date, a Mint mark's place is on the reverse. Examining previous commemoratives as the Columbian, Lafayette, or Maine Centennial, we can note that these issues are dated in some fashion on the reverse. Were they to be produced at two Mints during the same year, as the 1926 and 1926-S Oregon Trail coinage, would the Mint have called Columbus on the 1892 or 1893 Columbian half dollar the reverse side because the ship side bears the date? Thus, the correct positioning of the Mint mark would be next to the date or opposite the date side. It appears the Mint used its only option when labeling the Oregon Trail and changing the artist obverse-reverse -- even though it had the look of a coin's reverse design."

lordmarcovan

<< <i>Lord M....... I am not into gold so show me some US silver coins with the date of the reverse. Every coin I have has the date on the obverse. >>



I think most folks will agree that Mr. Columbus is the obverse on this one, and the ship is the reverse.

astrorat

The side designed by James Earl Fraser is the obverse. Laura Garding Fraser designed the reverse.

Lane