Frank Gasparro...How Will History Rate His Works?
OneCent
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10th Chief Engraver of the Mint.
Designs:
1.) Lincoln Memorial - Reverse
2.) Kennedy Half - Reverse
3.) Ike Dollar -Obverse and Reverse (except Bicentennial issue reverse which was done by Seth Huntingdon)
4.) SBA Dollar - Obverse and Reverse
I think that his most artistic design was the reverse of the Ike Dollar (Eagle, Moon , Earth). The memorial reverse of the Lincoln cent is pretty nice but not overly creative imho.
Where does Frank Gasparro's works rate as compared to the other Mint Engravers?
Designs:
1.) Lincoln Memorial - Reverse
2.) Kennedy Half - Reverse
3.) Ike Dollar -Obverse and Reverse (except Bicentennial issue reverse which was done by Seth Huntingdon)
4.) SBA Dollar - Obverse and Reverse
I think that his most artistic design was the reverse of the Ike Dollar (Eagle, Moon , Earth). The memorial reverse of the Lincoln cent is pretty nice but not overly creative imho.
Where does Frank Gasparro's works rate as compared to the other Mint Engravers?
Collector of Early 20th Century U.S. Coinage.
ANA Member R-3147111
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Comments
<< <i>Where does Frank Gasparro's works rate as compared to the other Mint Engravers? >>
Given the subject matter he was required to depict, I think he did OK. I have difficulty comparing his work to earlier engravers who were allowed to use their creative imagination in the depiction of (an emblematic) Liberty vs creating a likeness of an historical figure such as Ike and SBA (both of whom were not the most beautiful of persons).
Kennedy Half Reverse - Bland and forgettable.
Ike Dollar - Obverse - Bland and forgettable.
Ike Dollar - Reverse - Really not his design. It was a mandated design based on the Apollo 11 mission patch.
SBA Dollar - Obverse - Bland and forgettable.
SBA Dollar - Reverse - Same comment as for the Ike dollar reverse.
His best design was for Liberty Head Dollar, which wasn't adopted, being bumped by the SBA design.
Working for the mint just doesn't allow artists to show their talent. Too much political correctness and too much design interference by congress.
Collector of Early 20th Century U.S. Coinage.
ANA Member R-3147111
<< <i>Lincoln Memorial Cent Reverse - Very ordinary as are virtually all designs that feature buildings.
Kennedy Half Reverse - Bland and forgettable.
Ike Dollar - Obverse - Bland and forgettable.
Ike Dollar - Reverse - Really not his design. It was a mandated design based on the Apollo 11 mission patch.
SBA Dollar - Obverse - Bland and forgettable.
SBA Dollar - Reverse - Same comment as for the Ike dollar reverse.
His best design was for Liberty Head Dollar, which wasn't adopted, being bumped by the SBA design.
Working for the mint just doesn't allow artists to show their talent. Too much political correctness and too much design interference by congress. >>
I agree with this. I loved his "small" dollar, but we ended up with the worst coin in history instead. It would not have made a difference as far as circulation, but at least it would have been nice to collect.
Sorry for the tease but when the Ike Group gets through revealing the fun Gasparro had with his Ike reverse, you might have to revise your opinion. Rob
Questions about Ikes? Go to The IKE GROUP WEB SITE
<< <i>I whole heartedly agree with sumnom's view. Bland and uninspired. >>
I agree.
Way too easy...
The Ike portrait is decent if not electric and the reverse, as pointed out earlier, was forced on Gasparro so the issues he faced, and they were formidable, were more technical than aesthetic. Even so he had his fun with the design, details forthcoming.
Yeah, I know, I'm biased, but I've been looking at Ikes for the past three years almost exclusively and both sides have grown on me with with exposure. Look closely at better silver Ikes, a great way to get hooked, lookout now...
Questions about Ikes? Go to The IKE GROUP WEB SITE
The actual adopted designs will not all reflect well on his talent.
<<when the Ike Group gets through revealing the fun Gasparro had with his Ike reverse, you might have to revise your opinion.>>
JMHO,
Brian
I LOVE
We don’t know what talent he had. He was a good assistant to Gilroy Roberts and certainly knew the craft of coin design and die sinking. Yet his surviving medallic designs, are lifeless and devoid of connection with the subject.
Roberts seemed to have blossomed once he left the mint – maybe Gasparro would have also.
(Is there an extended audio interview with him in the ANA or ANS archives?)
<< <i>
We don’t know what talent he had. He was a good assistant to Gilroy Roberts and certainly knew the craft of coin design and die sinking. Yet his surviving medallic designs, are lifeless and devoid of connection with the subject.
>>
The coins yes. You have to like the ANA medal he did though (I wish I could find one for my collection) - with the modern version of Liberty.
Liberty Head Dollar - Pattern?
As I mentioned earlier, I did not know that Gasparro had a Liberty Head Design for the small dollar. After finding an image of the prototype on the web, I am very underwhelmed. I would have thought that this would have been the opportunity for his true artistic talent to shine though and this design just doesn't "cut the mustard" imho. It has somewhat of the same "look" as the curretn presidential dollars. THis was a low relief design, correct? Maybe that posed some limitations or maybe Frank was just plain mediocre with coin designs.
I read that those who knew him had much respect for him.
Collector of Early 20th Century U.S. Coinage.
ANA Member R-3147111
Just this past weekend I was talking with a former Mint employee about Frank Gasparro, who told me a story that many at the Mint like to pass down: back in the late 70s or early 80s, storage space at the Mint was at a premium, and so the sculptor engravers were ordered to 'clean house.' Rather than throw everything away as they were instructed to do, Frank Gasparro opted to pack as much as he could into whatever spaces he could secretly improvise, and today many original plasters survive because of this effort.
I once had the pleasure of being in the company of John Mercanti when he dissected the Kennedy design - while the portrait is based on that of his Presidential medal designed by Gilroy Roberts, Frank had to adapt it for coinability - if I recall the conversation correctly, Gasparro tweaked the fields of the coin in a very particular way in order to make the design strike properly.
How will history rate his work?
I think Gasparro will be remembered as a competent if somewhat pedantic artist, a masterful technician, and person whose heart was in the right place.
>>>My Collection
<< <i>I have always found his work rather bland. Even his small dollar design, while interesting and better than than the SBA, was a little cartoonish. I do not consider him to be among the great Mint engravers. >>
And, it was copied from early U.S. coinage.
His cent reverse was copied from the existing building.
His half dollar reverse was copied from the seal of the President of the US
His Ike/SBA reverse was copied from the Appollo 11 logo.
The Ike obverse was original.
TD
10th Chief Engraver of the Mint.
Designs:
1.) Lincoln Memorial - Reverse
2.) Kennedy Half - Reverse
3.) Ike Dollar -Obverse and Reverse (except Bicentennial issue reverse which was done by Seth Huntingdon)
4.) SBA Dollar - Obverse and Reverse
I think that his most artistic design was the reverse of the Ike Dollar (Eagle, Moon , Earth). The memorial reverse of the Lincoln cent is pretty nice but not overly creative imho.
Where does Frank Gasparro's works rate as compared to the other Mint Engravers?
When Frank Gasparro was still chief engraver I had the pleasure on several occasions of being in his office.
On one of these visits I asked him why the portrait of Susan B. Anthony was so forbidding when he was
certainly capable of much better work. He replied that he had suggested a more pleasant appearance but the
only response from the powers-that-be had been to use the photograph he had been furnished without any
personal touches.
I have no doubt that he was under similar restraints for other work.
Denga
If so, I like that better than any of his circulating coin designs.
<< <i>I think that his most artistic design was the reverse of the Ike Dollar (Eagle, Moon , Earth). The memorial reverse of the Lincoln cent is pretty nice but not overly creative imho. >>
Frank primarily did engraving on the Ike reverse, no designing as it is the Apollo 11 mission patch designed by Michael Collins with suggestions from Jim Lovell, Neil Armstrong, Tom Wilson, and Bob Gilruth.
<< <i>10th Chief Engraver of the Mint.
Designs:
1.) Lincoln Memorial - Reverse
2.) Kennedy Half - Reverse
3.) Ike Dollar -Obverse and Reverse (except Bicentennial issue reverse which was done by Seth Huntingdon)
4.) SBA Dollar - Obverse and Reverse >>
Any have pics of his coins for Guatamala, Phillipines, Cuba, and Panama?