On Apr 3, 10:28=A0pm, m...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(Christian Feldhaus)
wrote:
> Hobbyist <adam_swansb...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> > For the narrowest design scope, look at the Irish euros - a harp on
ever=
y
> >coin. How boring! To think of the lovely diverse set they lost.
>
> Belgium is about as dull - one obverse design for all denominations. No
> idea why these two countries decided to make their euro coinage that
> boring, but it's somewhat sad indeed.
As a boy I used to like their 25c (?) ****traying the head of a miner.
You can be boring without being the euro, though, as the Swiss coins
arguably demonstrate.
> > Our newUKset is next up on the "narrowness of scope" list, all based
on
> > a single design.
>
> Right, based on one design - but they still are all different. Basically
> I like this "style family" idea, although Matthew Dent took it quite
> far, with that headless lion's butt on the 20p coins. :)
At least it was evacuating its bowels. As for the "Ich dien" motto on
the current 2p coin (why isn't it "Ich diene", anyway, since it's
written rather than spoken?), a Welsh acquaintance, whose first
language is Welsh, tells me that if you actually say "Ich dien", it
sounds just like the Welsh for "my arse".
> > Third on the narowness of scope list would be the German euro set, and
> > others of that ilk (Spain, Cyprus), which have only three different
> > designs for their eight coins - one design per format, i.e.
> > copper/bronze-coloured, brass-coloured, and bimetallic.
>
> Sure, I like the euro sets with eight different designs (Austria,
> Greece, Italy, San Marino, Slovenia) better too.
The Greek set is my favourite.
> Then again, three
> different obverse designs match the three different map styles on the
> common reverses.
Yes, it's another way of doing things and so in itself adds to the
variety of the hobby. I have only 3 euro sets in my collection: The
Greek one; the Cyprus one just issued (only 3 designs, but nicely
varied in theme, and inspiring to look at); and a multi-national one,
made up of denominations from various countries, including the three
German coins showing the Brandenburg Gate - a very ***y design of a
complex political symbol, which encompasses European history from
Bismarck to the collapse of Communism. In my multi-national set, I
also included the Italian coins showing the Colosseum and da Vinci's
Vitruvian Man, and the Finnish 1 and 2 euros for their wildlife
designs.
> Also, what circulates in, say, Belgium is not just the
> Belgian pieces but various other ones. So variety wise it's not all that
> bad ...
The euros are themselves a variation on a theme, which is in itself
interesting to many collectors (just as are the many world coins
****traying Queen Elizabeth are for me). However, I much preferred the
greater stylistic variety that existed pre-euro and was destroyed by
the birth of the euro. The Irish pre-euro set is the one I mourn most.
Before they decided to adopt the euro, the Irish were going to replace
the 1p and 2p with designs from the old Barnyard set, reduce the size
of their 50p, and amend all of their animals designs so that the
beasts were facing to the right.
Probably the German coins benefited by going euro, as the pre-euro set
was undistinguished and didn't cohere stylistically. It didn't LOOK
like a set, so it needed a design shake-up.
Adam.
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