OCR Text |
Show NEW DE8IGNS FOR COIN8 It la announced that thn United States Treasury will soon Issue now designs In place of the present stylo of dimes, quarters nnd half dollars. If they arc no bettor specimens than (ho buffnlo nickel, thoro will bo little to bo gained by tho change. To most pcoplo ona design for a coin is ns good ns another, provided It passes at tho grocery storo. nut coins do havo a real significance. For centuries nations have used them to oxpress their opinions, history and great lenders A w.-jll designed nnd executed coin Is n sign that the pcoplo pco-plo behind It aro a nntlon of high In-tolllgenco In-tolllgenco and development of craftsmanship. crafts-manship. Conversely a poorly designed design-ed coin suggests a low development of tho nrts. Tho fantllar designs of our present pres-ent silver coins would not probably Btrlko n typographical expert ob very" well done. Compnrcd with thoe Issued by Kuropcnn governments tho lettering nnd figures seem rather conrse.nnd blunt, too heavily shaded and larking In clenr cut dfflnltlon. Tho Lincoln cent Introduced a few cnrs ngo was ono exnmplo of a flno-ly flno-ly dono coin. Tho lettering for tho words 'one cent' Is peculiarly well rounded, clear, and beautiful and It would bo hard to improve upon. Tho buffalo nickel had at least one well dono feature, the Indinn head, n vigorous and cxprosslvo drawing of this Americnn typo. But tho letter-Ing letter-Ing was crowded down almost to nothing, no-thing, and the coin had u rough nnd bunchy nppcaranco that mado it look tlko somo freak advertising modnl. Fow of them nro seen In dnlly life, nnd tho oldr design has bees almost al-most universally preferred. Lettering on coins that requires a magnifying glnss to rend niny bo cnlled nrtlstlc.'but it spoils tho design. de-sign. Every letter or flgnro on tlu roln should bo clear nnd obvious so Hint ovcryono who examines It can mo Just what Ideas wcro meant to bo convoyed. |