Q. David Bowers
The whole thing is bad. The coin should be immediately withdrawn from circulation and a new design undertaken, by a committee composed, for choice, of a bank teller accustomed to handle and stack such coins, some artists of national reputation, a historian, a poet, and the secretary of the Treasury. A nation-wide competition in designs would be of the highest educational value. It is not too much to hope that we can at least involve something artistically above the level of the magazine cover. [End of Journal article.]
"Evidently, the case of the director of the Mint is one of "vaunting ambition which overlaps itself:" in his anxiety to take credit to himself for the paternity of the child of another's brain, and he known as the originator of the peace dollar. He also violated his own ruling when he accepted a design from a medalist outside .of the Mint, an act which he himself objected to when he refused to O.K. the provision of the proposed bill first presented by the American Numismatic Association committee,
"Let me urge that our Association docs not abandon the work which it has undertaken for the procuring of a peace dollar which represents peace in all of its beauty, and will be a work of art to be sought for, approved and praised by the generations yet to come,
"Judson Brenner,
"Chairman ANA Peace Coin Committee"
[ANA PRESIDENT WORMSER'S CRITICISM] Confined t.o his home by illness, President Wormser of the ANA has dictated the following on the new coin:
"Any ANA member surely will comment on the new Peace dollar with a feeling of great sadness, somewhat akin to those of a mother whose pet child has been kidnapped. We had hoped it was to be "our" Peace dollar while this is just any old Peace dollar.
"I do not believe it is fair to pull to pieces all thedetails of a new design and unfavorably criticize them, especially as practical ideas of manufacture and use as currency must outweigh considerations of the artistic design.
"In my opinion, the artist has fairly well succeeded in breaking away from the long established design and working out something fairly original. Personally, I do not like the arrangement of the rays on the head of Liberty on the obverse, nor the prominence with which the lines of the rays of the reverse are carried through between the tail and the body of the eagle. This may be accuracy of design, but it is difficult to make out at first glance what these lines mean.
"The chief criticism, however, which I have of the coin is that there is nothing particularly emblematic of peace on it the inscription of 'Peace' itself, and it is the poorest kind of art to express an idea simply by the inscription of a word, The idea of a lasting world peace, or a peace after so many years of disastrous world war, could have lent itself to much better, more artistic and allegorical treatment than was used on the coin issued.
"I consider it particularly unfortunate that the issue of the Peace dollar was not the result of special legislation, such as the ANA had planned, because such a coin could have been discontinued after it was considered no longer timely; while under the present circumstances, with our tradition of not changing any currency design for 25 years, we shall all be very tired of issuing and looking at Peace dollars, when they will no longer have the same significance they have today.'
"Moritz Wormser"
[B.H. SAXTON'S OPINION OF THE DOLLAR]
"Might one be permitted to express his feelings anent the new Peace dollar? That is, within the limits not trespassed upon by the censor? If I may, I submit the following:
"Obscure all of the head back of the forehead and cheek, and what have we? The features of a perfectly nice 10-year-.old boy, which, however attractive in his proper place, is hardly calculated to be quite suitable as a model for the mature face of the goddess of Liberty.
"Then the hair: Neatly coiffured except the side locks, which appear to have escaped attention; they are a prey to the wayward breezes, but if the artist wanted to effect wind-tossed tresses he should have studied the fine Libertas Americana medal, designed by Benjamin Franklin. These stray locks do not seem to be lightly stirring, but flapping; they look positively soggy.
"Now, about the-what shall we call it-diadem? Cover everything below this peculiar headdress and try to complete the picture in imagination. What is the first thing you think of? An angry porcupine? Exactly. The bristling quills suggest nothing less. We do insist, however, that the quill headdress during at least the first year of its use ought to be in good repair; but is it? The third quill from the front must mark at most the center of the forehead-by no possible chance could it be this side of the center; this being true, why should two extras be shown dropping in front, when the curve of the ornament should take them out of sight? Are they loose and rattling around in the aforementioned breeze, or are they trying to spear the lout of "LIBERTY"? In any event, I leave it to you if the design wouldn't be improved by their absence. We are not left in doubt as to the other side of the diadem, for one lone quill rises to indicate it-second to the left of the E. Thoughtful of the artist, anyway.
"If IN GOD WE TRUST had been set in 5-point instead of 8-point, it would have been a bit neater; and since all five U's on the reverse are not V's, why not have made it an even half-dozen by engraving it TRUST instead of TRVST?
"The whole design is reminiscent of the original model for the Saint-Gaudens $10 gold piece but the attempt only is recognized-not the achievement. The plain surface is very pleasing.
"Tis a fine eagle on the reverse, in spite of the heavy casing on the right leg. Seems odd this grand old bird of war (remember the poem on 'Old Abe' in our old Fourth Reader?) should be chosen to symbolize PEACE, but so it must be, for with a strong glass I discovered the word craftily concealed near the top of the crag. After all, the eagle is a fitter symbol of peace than the conventional dove, for he is able to enforce it, because he can fight if necessary; as for the dove-well, the dove is decorative, and seems to have had no particular employment since its famous reconnaissance during the well known flood-a plain scout then, forerunner of the modern scout plane.
"There is a wrong font 0 in 'OF,' and E PLURIBUS UNUM should have been a size smaller, to say nothing of the weakly struck lettering on the whole coin-in this respect no better than that on the 1794 dollar, our first attempt; it would seem that we ought to have improved this in the space of 128 years.
"This coin seems to have been struck under an unlucky star, anyway (by the way, isn't this about the first silver coin we have had without stars somewhere in the design?). Add the numerals 1921 and we have 13; there are 13 letters in E PLURIBUS UNUM, and double 13 in UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and PEACE; there are 13 long rays of the sun, 13 leaves on the olive branch-and I should say it is about a 13-pound eagle.
"In the whole design of this coin one notes ideas of mythology, natural history, typography, geology, mathematics, and botany; there yet remains astronomy, but I will only suggest that some rainy day, when time hangs heavy, you try to locate the probable position of the rising sun from the convergence of the rays as indicated on the horizon; the result will interest you.
"For the benefit of collectors at large, I should like to record a startling discovery: The parallel reeded lines on the edge are not all of the same length! In spite of extensive research I can find no mention of the fact nor of its cause, in the entire history of the issue. But I think I am able to offerthe solution, which may be verified at the Mint itself: the un-equal length of the lines arises from the varying thickness of the edge! Use your own discretion about releasing this, but if Columbus had kept quiet about HIS discovery, where would you and I be today?