What do you think is the UGLIEST U.S. Coin ever made?? Commemoratives excluded!

keepdachange

Without a doubt... Susan B. Anthony

Mercury10c

I agree

COINB0Y

Any Presidential $1 Coin

mkman123

agreed as well.

Goldbully

Did you forget Eunice???

Mercury10c

Eunice makes Susan B look like a goddess, but commems are excluded.

Goldbully

<< <i>Eunice makes Susan B look like a goddess, but commems are excluded. >>



Guess I went over the top....sorry Eunice.

keepdachange

Eunice made me throwup in my mouth

eCoinquest

Id say all the presidential dollars

Halfhunter06

The Alabama State Quarter, just totally inappropriate and a disgrace. Montgomery could have done much better

razzle

SBA is ugly, yes, but it is also the easiest set to complete, and the only one I've managed so far. SBA is also the least expensive set to complete, so in response to a thread elsewhere on this page, my wife has had the most influence on my coin choices...

Chuck

coinsarefun

She wins

But, there must be a whole lot of closet collectors out there because they are
still popular



Stefanie

JoeForex

president dollars are terrible.

notwilight

Although SBA herself is nothing to look at, the coin in proof looks very, very nice. I like the reverse also. Probably the flowing hair coinage was the ugliest ever made--which is one of the reasons it is so cool today but it lasted such a short time because of a huge vote of dissatisfaction from the general public. --Jerry

JazzmanJAB

What about some of the 1st Hags.

Abigail Adams Woof Woof

Sotty

Id say the Ike dollar. Ike looks like Donald Duck without the feathers,

BBN

<< <i>Did you forget Eunice???


>>

laxmaster92

<< <i>Did you forget Eunice???


>>



Wait! Thats a woman?

stevek

Saint Gaudens $20 gold piece

BBN

<< <i>

<< <i>Did you forget Eunice???


>>



Wait! Thats a woman? >>



The Kennedys just don't age gracefully

robkool

The Roosevelt Dime...

Walmann

Sometimes ugly can be interesting, hence why people paid to get a look at John Merrick.



Now the Roosevelt Dime, while not ugly is dull. Perhaps the dullest circulating coin produced by the US.

Fountainhead

Susan B. was so obvious, we really should be looking for the second ugliest...

PCcoins

I disagree on the roosie, just take a look at my avatar. How can that be ugly?

sumnom

The presidential dollars and many of the state quarters are quite, shall we say, are not the most beautiful of US coins.

I actually don't think the SBA is so bad, actually.

razzle

Yeah, but the other side is a whole New Deal!

Chuck

sumnom

<< <i>Yeah, but the other side is a whole New Deal!

Chuck >>



Oi!

frnklnlvr

<< <i>The presidential dollars and many of the state quarters are quite, shall we say, are not the most beautiful of US coins.

I actually don't think the SBA is so bad, actually. >>



The state quarters are technically commems.

sumnom

<< <i>

<< <i>The presidential dollars and many of the state quarters are quite, shall we say, are not the most beautiful of US coins.

I actually don't think the SBA is so bad, actually. >>



The state quarters are technically commems. >>



All of our circulating coins are technically commemoratives. The last non-commemorative design in circulation was the 1947 half.

frnklnlvr

Yea, I guess your right. I never really thought about it but it's true.

sumnom

I wish it wasn't so. I have had enough of circulating commemoratives.

frnklnlvr

I'd like to see them go back to Liberty coins again.

nankraut

<< <i>Without a doubt... Susan B. Anthony >>



I agree ten times over!

jacksongto

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>Did you forget Eunice???


>>



Wait! Thats a woman? >>



The Kennedys just don't age gracefully
>>



I can't help but imagine that whoever the poor sucker was that was tasked with designing this coin took one look at this picture and, sigh, thought "what the hell am I suppose to do with this?"

Considering the raw material he had to work from the coin looks AWESOME!!!

commoncents123

I'm surprised at all the hate towards the SBA... I like the reverse...it's not a bad coin.... Anything modern and yellow I can't stand...Sacs, presidentials....Almost anything the mint sells to collectors now.,

JungleFever

And, SBA had nothing to do with the reverse, which is not the best reverse I've ever seen. I like the front of the TX comm. but it's reverse is a mess, what were they thinking? Time for a new TX commem.





Butt Ugly

TwoSides2aCoin

Susan B Anthony is hot !

Overdate

SBA is ugly, yes, but it is also the easiest set to complete

I thought Flying Eagle Cents were the easiest set to complete!

Placid

lordmarcovan

TwoSides2aCoin has it right.

For pure frumpiness, the Matron Head large cent is probably one of the ugliest business-issue US coins. What possessed them to go from the graceful and lovely Draped Bust designs to the homely Classic Heads and downright dumpy Matron Heads is beyond me. Fashions change, though, and what might have seemed progressive at the time seems like a backwards step to us now.

Don't get me wrong. I love early large cents, even the Classic Heads and Matron Heads I just maligned.

But you have to put things in proper perspective- the age and history and numismatic appeal of such coins buys them respect we wouldn't otherwise give them. (Don't get me started on some of the colonial issues- crude, primitive, and downright hideous, some of them- but oh-so beautiful to a collector!)

Picture the Matron Head design vis-a-vis the SBA design and switch 'em around- let's hypothetically say the SBA design was produced in the early 1800s and the Matron Head was a modern issue. You know everybody would say the Matron Head was the ugliest thing ever made and the SBA would get more respect. They really aren't that ugly. Unexciting, perhaps, but ugly? Not really.

To truly judge the designs, you have to detach your mind from the numismatic value or historical appeal of the coins, because there are plenty of coins with rather hideous designs that are beloved today by collectors.

Take the Chain cent, for example. Who amongst us would not love to own a Chain cent, or do, and cherish the ones do own?

But look outside the numismatic appeal for a moment. There was contemporary criticism of the Chain cent which alluded to the "frightened looking" Liberty on one side and how the chain on the other side was a poor choice since it was emblematic of slavery. Chain cents get lots of respect as collectibles, but they are rather ugly and could have been better conceived. Nevertheless, we had to start somewhere with our coinage, and the ugliness of the Chain cents just adds character.

My favorite design on a US coin is the Panama-Pacific octagonal $50 design. And I say that purely from a design standpoint, not because the coin happens to be a rare gold commemorative worth five figures. If it were a modern coin struck in copper, nickel, or silver, with the same design, I would love it just as much, even if one were worth five bucks instead of $35K.

Mark my words, the collectors of the future will not sneer at the Susan B. Anthony. Any more than we sneer at the Matron Head large cent.

It's all good.

sonoranmonsoon

I would say the Eisenhower dollar is pretty boring to look at. I would have to rank it below SBA and the Presidentials. All are good candidates though.

TrustNo1

I like the SBA....find another one to put down...everyone always says SBA..... please..... Edited to add..I really think that Morgan design is more like Bea Arthur than Lady Liberty

Gemini

She had nice skin and with a little makeup makeover

IrishMike

<< <i>The Roosevelt Dime... >>

lordmarcovan

Hop in your trusty time machine and travel back to Connecticut in the late 18th century. Bring a bag of Susan B. Anthony dollars with you.

See how many of these "muttonhead" coppers you can get from the locals, in exchange for a Susan B. Anthony dollar each.

They'll probably be more than happy to take your lovely 20th century anachronisms off your hands. When they ask why your coins are dated 1979, just tell 'em they were made in 1779 and that it was a mint error and the engraver was illiterate. They'll understand that all too well.

We've come a long way, baby.



That would be a pretty profitable trade for you, but the 21st century market in Connecticut coppers would probably take a dive once you unloaded your purchases on today's market.

jacksongto

a wheelchair and a crutch?

lordmarcovan

Exactly.

I saw a seller on eBay offering a well-worn British large penny and he described Britannia as "a lady in a wheelchair".

Mercfan

I'd pick the Ike over the SBA. Though they're both very unattractive, Ikes are larger in size and, consequently, offer a greater amount of unattractiveness per coin.

Cameonut

I was thinking about the Barber series as being the ugliest until I saw that matron head large cent. The matron head wins by a nose!

lordmarcovan

Even our Ike dollars are smalltime wannabes in an ugly coin competition.

From a design standpoint, many American coins were dull as dirt from the end of WW2 until the millennium, but we're still amateurs in the ugly coin department.



(No, those lines are not die breaks. They are a part of the design.)


Just ask MadMarty. (Or no, don't ask him- he likes these).



Actually, the Cook Islands produces some lovely coin designs. That just ain't one of them.

It's interesting, though.

See? We could have it a lot worse.

jacksongto

<< <i>Exactly.

I saw a seller on eBay offering a well-worn British large penny and he described Britannia as "a lady in a wheelchair". >>



Call 'um like you see 'um, eh?

The guy with his face caught in the blender blades, is ahhhh, creepy, is the first thing that comes to mind. I just hope it doesn't start to spin and fling blood everywhere