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 Replies: 954 / Views: 40,184 |
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Moderator
United States
97930 Posts |
Nice example!  |
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Bedrock of the Community
Canada
16786 Posts |
1913 UK. One Penny.   |
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Moderator
United States
97930 Posts |
Very nice! |
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Bedrock of the Community
Canada
16786 Posts |
1967 Soviet Union (Russia) 50 Kopecks -October Revolution.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5510 Posts |
I don't recall ever seeing an original picture of Ulysses S. Grant without a beard. The 1922 US commemorative silver and gold coins issued to mark the centennial of his birth are a natural for this thread as they each feature a right-facing Grant in all his bearded glory!  Two varieties of the silver half dollar and the gold $1.00 coin were issued. One variety is called "Plain" as it has a plain field above the "GRANT" inscription on the obverse (at right, viewer's perspectivee); the other is termed the "with Star" variety because there is an incuse star in the field above "GRANT." The "with Star" variety is the scarcer of the two within the silver series, (4,256 net mintage vs. 67,405). Each of the two varieties of the gold coin have a mintage of 5,000, so are equally available in the market (at least in my experience!) 1922 Grant Memorial Half Dollar, Plain variety  1922 Grant Memorial Half Dollar, with Star variety  1922 Grant Memorial Gold Dollar, Plain variety  1922 Grant Memorial Gold Dollar, with Star variety  You can check out my previous posts about the Grant half dollars here: 1922 Grant Centennial, Plain Variety1922 Grant Centennial, w/ Star Variety1922 Grant Centennial, "Cousin"My other posts about commemorative coins re here: Read More: Commems Collection Collecting history one coin or medal at a time! (c) commems. All rights reserved.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4554 Posts |
I just spent a little time catching up on this thread. What a wonderful gallery of European sovereigns (19th-early 20th century), Roman emperors (thanks @IGE), South American heroes, mythical/allegorical figures, and luminaries of Western culture (shout out to @NumisRob for many of those). Though enough already for George V and Balboa  . Also a special shout out to @dorado for his Polish coin with King Mieszko I (whose coins I could only possess in my dreams), and his Hungarian coin with Kossuth (we have a street named after him here in Columbus, OH). So ... a few new bearded characters. First, both Saint Mark, and Sebastiano Venier, the doge of Venice 1577-78 (and naval hero at the Battle of Lepanto) had beards:   |
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Bedrock of the Community
Canada
16786 Posts |
1986 Greece 20 Drachmes new lettering   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5510 Posts |
Facial hair is the norm for both subjects on the 1937 Battle of Antietam 75th Anniversary half dollar: Union Major General George McClellan is the portrait at the left rear on the coin, behind Confederate General Robert E. Lee. McClellan is more mustache than beard, but Lee is full-on beard. Each was a leading figure at the battle, one that helped the Union stall the Confederate march into Maryland and likely helped save Washington, DC from direct attack - more than 22,000 combined were either killed, injured or missing/captured as a result of the battle. Since moving from the North to the South, I've come to learn that many of the local residents learned of this battle as the Battle of Sharpsburg vs. Battle of Antietam. It was Antietam in the high school history class I attended!   Union Major General George McClellan (left) and Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Images from the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. 1937 Battle of Antietam 75th Anniversary Half Dollar  You can read more about the coin here: - 1937 Battle of Antietam Half Dollar- 1937 Battle of Antietam Half Dollar - Revisited.- Stars On The 1937 Antietam Collecting history one coin or medal at a time! (c) commems. All rights reserved.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5510 Posts |
Following the Battle of Antietam coin...here's another Civil War-themed half dollar from the classic US commemorative series that features facial hair: the 1936 Battle of Gettysburg 75th Anniversary coin. Unlike the Antietam coin, which features famous Civil War generals, the Gettysburg coin depicts a pair of unnamed / unidentified soldiers, one for each side. The portrait of a representative Union soldier (with mustache) is the front portrait of the conjoined pair, with the fully-bearded solider of the Confederacy presented behind him. The Battle of Gettysburg took place July 1-3, 1863 and was one in which over 50,000 soldiers (combined) were either killed, wounded, captured or missing - it was the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War. The battle was a Union victory and prevented the Confederate Army from advancing further into the North; it is often referred to as the "turning point" of the war, in favor of the Union. As the battle took place in 1863, its true 75th anniversary year was 1938. The legislation that authorized the coin in 1936, however, stated that the coin needed to be struck within one year of its enactment and carry the date "1936" regardless of when it was struck. So, we have a 1936-dated commemorative coin for a 1938 anniversary! The coin's reverse presents the Union (left) and Confederate (right) shields along with a commemorative inscription. The coin is the work of Frank Vittor. 1936 Battle of Gettysburg Half Dollar  If you'd like to learn more, I have previously posted about the Gettysburg coin: - 1936 Battle Of Gettysburg 75th Anniversary- 1936 Gettysburg Ephemera- 1936 Gettysburg Ephemera II- 1936 Gettysburg Half Dollar - House vs. SenateOther of my commemorative coin posts can be quickly accessed here: Read More: Commems Collection Collecting history one coin or medal at a time! (c) commems. All rights reserved.
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Moderator
United States
97930 Posts |
Fantastic examples with the added history lessons! |
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Bedrock of the Community
Canada
16786 Posts |
1988 Greece. 50 Drachmes.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5510 Posts |
How about a bearded American pioneer? The 1936 commemorative half dollar issued to help mark the centennial of the settlement of Elgin, IL features a left-facing portrait of a rugged pioneer with full beard on its obverse. The pioneer is also included among the family group portrayed in the Pioneer Memorial statue shown on the coin's reverse; the statue celebrates the original pioneers who settled in and around Elgin. Trygve A. Rovelstad was the artist/sculptor behind the design of the coin and the statue. The Pioneer Memorial statue was commissioned in conjunction with the Elgin Centennial and was supposed to be erected in Elgin from money raised through sales of the 1936 commemorative coin. Though sales totaled 20,000 coins at $1.00 each, Rovelstad did not net enough to fully fund the statue's completion; it remained unfinished until 1985. In the 1990s, a mix of public funds (city, county and state) and private donations finally raiesd the money needed to cast the statue amd bring Rovelstad's vision fully to life. The statue was finally dedicated on November 11, 2001. Unfortunately, Rovelstad died in 1993 and thus did not live long enough to see the statue erected near the bank of the Fox River in Elgin. Here's a picture of the bronze statue in Elgin, near the eastern end of the Kimball Street bridge on the Elgin riverfront.  Image credit: Pioneer Monuments in the American West web site. Visit them here Pioneer Monuments in the American West for a great overview of American pioneer memorials.1936 Elgin, IL Centennial Half Dollar  You can learn more about the Elgin coin here: 1936 City of Elgin, IL and here: 1936 Elgin - Revisited. More of my posts about commemorative pieces can be found here: Read More: Commems Collection Collecting history one coin or medal at a time! (c) commems. All rights reserved.
Edited by commems
03/02/2021 07:20 am
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Valued Member
Canada
76 Posts |
King George 5th wasn't too fond of shaving.  |
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Moderator
United States
97930 Posts |
Nice examples! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4554 Posts |
@comems, thank you for the great history lessons with those posts @wannab, welcome, and gorgeous coin! Holy Roman Emperor Henry II also had a beard (at least according to the diemaker in Bamberg who designed this 4 kreuzer coin 700 years later ):   |
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Replies: 954 / Views: 40,184 |
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Posted 12/07/2020 6:38 pm
