Most Beautiful Coin?

Any coin looks better in absolute pristine condition with full mint luster.
This the condition at which different coin types should be compared for beauty of their design.

Nevertheless, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The Walking Liberty half, and the St Gaudens Double Eagle do it for me.


Condition (or lack of it), has a lot to do with coin beauty.
A very worn Walking Liberty half is a rather horrid looking coin to my eye. Somewhat of a fault in the design, that they loose so much of their otherwise good looks with extensive wear.

I will go with the coin I am using as my avatar­­—a 1 franc piece from Cameroon, 1948:



Cameroon is not the only country to issue coins with this design, and it was not only on the 1 franc denomination. I tend to like all of the designs on the French colonial coins from 1948, but while the obverses stayed pretty much the same, there were a few different reverses used. And I like the antelope reverse the best.

Good choice.

When I first became interested in coins and collecting, the Morgan dollar was my favorite. Still is!

I'm primarily an ancients collector, so I'm biased!

At the moment, the design that captures me the most is that of Alexander the Great's general, Lysimachus:

https://www.biddr.ch/auctions/leu/b...209&l=196053



(I bid on that one, but lost by a few hundred bucks!)

But, here's some eye candy that I *do* own:

Spain halfway under Roman dominion, denarius from Bolskan (150 BC)


Roman Republic, Mn. Aemilius M.f Lepidus (114 BC)


Trajan, Victory seated:


Trajan, Annexation of Arabia:


Faustina Minor, Birth of Commodus and Anton in us


Caracalla (Possibly the most attentively detailed portrait I've seen on any ancient; note the scrunched nose and drawn back lip)


Ardashir I, founder of the Sassanian Empire


Umayyad Caliphate, AR dirhem 119 AH


India, Chalukyas of Gujarat, Gadhaiya Paisa (c. 1000 AD)

(These are admittedly an acquired taste)


But as far as modern coins go:

US:
Walking Liberty half
Peace dollar
Standing Liberty quarter
St. Gaudens $20
Texas Centennial half
Oregon Trail half

World:
I really like a lot of the French and Italian coin designs introduced from the 1890s-1930s.
French colonial coins from the 30s through 50s are nice. I'm especially fond of French Polynesia.
Soviet Rubles and 50 kopek silver coins from the 1920s

Here is the most beautiful imperial Chinese coin.