Ever wonder where famous coin portraits came from? (Eye Candy Alert!)

[WingedLiberty1]

A combination of some eye candy of some my my toner examples and some history of where famous coin portraits came from (or their inspiration). I hope I have this information roughly correct, I tried to research a bit on the fly, but cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, but hopefully close. All the coin images are PCGS TrueView photos shot by Phil Arnold, with a bit of levels adjustment in Photoshop to help bring out the detail. Coins are from WingedLiberty's "Color of Money" Collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Afterword]

Nice presentation!

[RWB]

The two silver dollars are wrong; also Roosevelt dime, Standing Liberty quarter, Washington quarter, and bust cent.

[WingedLiberty1]

RWB,

Sounds like i got everything wrong!

It's possible.

I was trying to figure this out from internet searches.

 

Feel free to post corrections.

[brg5658]

The two silver dollars are wrong; also Roosevelt dime, Standing Liberty quarter, Washington quarter, and bust cent.

 

What's wrong with the Washington quarter? Vermeule says that Flanagan based his design on the bust from 1785 by Houdon. What is the correct information? While it isn't exact (is any depiction on a coin exact to the inspiration?), it's certainly believable.

 

[BillJones]

The two silver dollars are wrong; also Roosevelt dime, Standing Liberty quarter, Washington quarter, and bust cent.

 

What's wrong with the Washington quarter? Vermeule says that Flanagan based his design on the bust from 1785 by Houdon. What is the correct information? While it isn't exact (is any depiction on a coin exact to the inspiration?), it's certainly believable.

 

 

Yes, I don't understand why Roger said that also. The artists who were asked to submit designs for the Washington Quarter were required to use the Houdon sculpture as the basis for their work.

 

I believe that the Franklin bust also came from Houdon's bust of Franklin.

 

BTW the "Bust Cent" is really a half cent.

 

 

[johnny9434]

way cool & nice stuff.

[RWB]

WingedLiberty1 - You also got a bunch of them correct! You gave it a try and that's good. A major problem with using the internet to research anything: it's filled with good stuff and garbage with no way to sort the two.

 

The Washington quarter is correct now. The original post had a full length statue, not the Houdon bust as required by the rules.

 

Franklin half - yes, Sinnock based his 1934 medal on the Franklin bust, and then used that for his 1942 half-dime design which then became the half dollar as specified by Director Ross in 1947 just after Sinnock died. Gilroy Roberts revised and completed the Franklin half design but was never given public credit for the work.

 

The portrait labeled "Anna W. Williams" is false and looks nothing like her. The coin Liberty was reverse designed and made youthful and pretty to attract interest. It was concocted by a newspaper for a Sunday color supplement.

[BillJones]

The concept of an official "presidential inaugural medal" is the source of confusion. Neither of the pieces that were shown in Wingedliberty1's wonderful post are the "official medals." The official medals are the pieces that are designated as such by the inaugural committee. They are sold as a fund raiser for the inaugural ceremonies, and once they sold, they are no longer issued again.

 

The mint medals, which were the pieces in Wingedliberty1's, were issued continuously in the past. Over the last 20+ years, however, the U.S. mint has stopped issuing most of the medals. The original 19th century presidential mint medals have the beautiful bronzed finish. Twentieth and Twenty first century presidents and the restrikes of the earlier presidents are in yellow bronze.

 

At any rate here is an example of the official 1941 Franklin Roosevelt inaugural medal. The medals were issued in two waves. The first wave had a mintage of 1,000 pieces. That issue was sold out and a second issue was made of 2,000 pieces. Those medals have a small "2" on the reverse that indicates there status.

 

The first issue of 1941 FDR official inaugural medals. Note that both of these FDR busts look more like the profile that appears on the Roosevelt Dime.

 

 

The seond issue of FDR 1941 official inaugural medals. Note the "2" on the reverse.

 

 

The 1961 JFK official inaugural medal was design by Paul Manship who also did the 1933 FRD medal. The JFK inaugural committee made a special effort to sell this medal in silver, and it is the first such medal to be considered common in that metal.

 

 

At one time I made the mistake assumming that this was the inspiration for the JFK half dollar.

[BillJones]

The portrait labeled "Anna W. Williams" is false and looks nothing like her. The coin Liberty was reverse designed and made youthful and pretty to attract interest. It was concocted by a newspaper for a Sunday color supplement.

 

But the school teach Anna Williams did pose for the portrait on the Morgan Dollar, didn't she?

[RWB]

"But the school teach Anna Williams did pose for the portrait on the Morgan Dollar, didn't she?"

 

No.

Morgan brought the Liberty design with him from England in 1877. Contemporary comment in 1879 was that the dollar portrait resembled Mrs. Morgan. It is also imitative of French examples from the late 1860s. (The bulk of newspaper comments are copycat bologna. The color "Solargraph" portrait is 100% bogus.)

 

Williams modeled for Morgan on a couple of instances, but her features had no influence on the silver dollar. Williams was not a real teacher at the time; she was a part-time figure model in Philadelphia and also worked at the House of Refuge charity home for abandoned and delinquent children.

 

Her story - and later accomplishments - will be featured in a future edition of the Journal of Numismatic Research (JNR).

[Nutmeg Coin]

Are there any links to Reich's model for the later Bust coinage?

[BustDime1811]

COOL thread! This is the kind of thing I like to see.

[WingedLiberty1]

RWB, Great Info! I learned a few things. Thanks for posting all that.

[RWB]

" I learned a few things."

 

As did I....

[BillJones]

Are there any links to Reich's model for the later Bust coinage?

 

The only story I have ever heard was that the Capped Bust design was inspired by Reich's "fat mistress." Since we don't seem to have a painting of John Reich that lets us to know what he looked like, I doubt if there is one of his mistress, even if she could be identified.

[WingedLiberty1]

 

From an internet search ...

 

"Weinman began working on some of his first commissions, which included an award medal that would be given to participants at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 in St. Louis. This medal was struck and produced at the Philadelphia Mint. This coin was an early predecessor of the Walking Liberty half dollar coin that he would be designing later as both have similar designs of a walking liberty and rising sun. The dime that Weinman designed became known as the famous Mercury Dime and his silver half dollar is known as the Walking Liberty Half Dollar. The designs of both of these coins were actually inspired by a real person named Elsie Kachel Stevens. Weinman actually sculpted a bust of her 3 years earlier in 1913. The dime features the detailed face of Elsie Stevens while the Walking Liberty half dollar features part of her full figure on the half dollar."

 

 

 

[BillJones]

That Louisiana Purchase Exposition medal is very attractive. I don't recall seeing it before.

[WingedLiberty1]

That Louisiana Purchase Exposition medal is very attractive. I don't recall seeing it before.

 

I agree with you. Both sides are cool!

 

[RWB]

Weinman made only sketches and a couple of portrait busts of Elsie - no full length studies are in his papers or mentioned.

 

The coin designs were made in 1916 not 1915.

 

Rising suns were very popular at the time, and walking or striding figures (see Oscar Roty) were also in vogue.

 

None of the coins have literal portraits except for the three copied from busts. Artists used composites so they could fully express their creative intentions. Live models were guides especially for the natural flow of clothing and ornaments. Saint-Gaudens and most others worked from muscle structures with fat, skin, clothing and other aspects overlain in perspective to create a natural appearance.

[WingedLiberty1]

We need a LIKE button RWB. Great info.

 

[brg5658]

It's likely, if not almost certain that the Walking Liberty Half was based at least partly on Louis Oscar Roty's "Semeuse" (Sower) design that had been used on French coinage since 1897. The design was wildly popular, is still used on some Euro coinage, and was used on stamps in France for decades. A couple examples from my collection are pictured below. I think the similarities are quite clear.

 

[RWB]

Notice the muscle and bone of her arms and feet, also the natural flow of hair, clothing and the way Oscar Roty captured her figure in realistic motion - not idealized. Especially clear on the sandblast proof of 1898.....

[WingedLiberty1]

brg5658, I love the look of that. I do see the similarity. Definitely multiple source inspiration.

[WingedLiberty1]

(Thanks to Forum Member Bill Jones for info provided!)

 

 

* By the way, this is a PR67 (not mine) with one of the best strikes I've ever seen in that series

[david3142]

A Winged Victory statue, that very closely resembles St. Gauden's design for the double eagle, sits across from the Plaza Hotel on Central Park South. I pass it every day going to work.

 

Very cool information in this thread and great pictures to illustrate!

[WingedLiberty1]

 

(Coin shown is Simpson's stunning PR68)

[BillJones]

th

A Winged Victory statue, that very closely resembles St. Guaden's design for the double eagle, sits across from the Plaza Hotel on Central Park South. I pass it every day going to work.

 

Very cool information in this thread and great pictures to illustrate!

 

Is this the stature to which you are referring? This is most often given as the prototype for both of the St. Gaudens designs. St. Gaudens' early sketches had a pair of wings on Ms. Liberty. They were removed from the final design.

 

[WingedLiberty1]

A Winged Victory statue, that very closely resembles St. Guaden's design for the double eagle, sits across from the Plaza Hotel on Central Park South. I pass it every day going to work. Very cool information in this thread and great pictures to illustrate!

 

I think the Victory Statue (or Winged Victory) ... was used as part of the Sherman Memorial. I have seen that Victory Statue as a stand-alone statue in other venues I might be misrepresenting this info ... so correct me if I am mistaken.

 

Just a stunning piece of art though!

 

[numisport]

This is one of the better threads that I have followed so far and it's still a short one. Please don't stop here--- need more Renaissance stuff.