# Why are profiles on US coins facing left or right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 3, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960 "2013-11-03T03:18:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/1 "2013-11-03T03:18:28Z")
I recently started coin collecting, and until recently, the vast majority of Us coins had a right or left profile of the face. Why is this? Obviously, full face pictures would not be difficult, looking at paper money, and recent Jefferson nickels had 3/4 face engravings. In fact, coins to colonial times also had only half the face showing. Also, why are most of them facing left? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/2 "2013-11-03T03:25:55Z")
Some of the Thai coins show sort of in between profile and full face, and that looks odd. There may be some sort of problem getting it right in raised material but not a flat picture like on a banknote. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/3 "2013-11-03T03:56:33Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I recently started coin collecting, and until recently, the vast majority of Us coins had a right or left profile of the face. Why is this? Obviously, **full face pictures would not be difficult, looking at paper money,** and recent Jefferson nickels had 3/4 face engravings. In fact, coins to colonial times also had only half the face showing. > > Also, why are most of them facing left? Given that you can’t really do much with shading on a coin face, it’s actually pretty difficult to have them be full-face. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/4 "2013-11-03T04:00:34Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Given that you can’t really do much with shading on a coin face, it’s actually pretty difficult to have them be full-face. Wow. Ten chars. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/5 "2013-11-03T04:15:11Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Wow. > > Ten chars. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/6 "2013-11-03T04:49:46Z")
Ethilrist is right. Full face is more difficult. This is what Cecil has to say about it. > [@](#): > > Fact is, while full face portraits on coins aren’t completely unknown, they’re definitely rare, mostly showing up on commemoratives. The reason is that it’s tough getting a realistic likeness in full face, given the constraints of the medium. The relief on modern mass-circulation coins is low, typically just 16 thousandths of an inch, to permit them to be cranked out by the boatload on high-speed equipment. That doesn’t give the coin designer much room for the detailing that, on paper money or a stamp, makes a full face portrait easily recognizable. In a profile view, on the other hand, you can often tell who’s being depicted from the silhouette alone. From here: > **[How come portraits on coins are in profile while those on bills are full face?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342220/how-come-portraits-on-coins-are-in-profile-while-those-on-bills-are-full-face)** ---
**Author:** ![ChezzaAU](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@ChezzaAU](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChezzaAU)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/7 "2013-11-03T05:34:58Z")
Reading this prompted me to check out my notes and coins (Australia). All the coins have the profile of Queen Elizabeth, facing left to right. All the notes have a frontal view of the subject. Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/8 "2013-11-03T05:59:41Z")
😕 It’s always been my understanding that a “profile” is, by definition, a side-view portrait of the subject, which kind of limits the engraver’s available choices. That said, if I rotate my coin just so, I find I can make the subject face up or down, too. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/9 "2013-11-03T06:06:56Z")
I don’t think the US picks left or right for any particular reason. It’s just artistic whim. ETA: The mint answers the question [about why Lincoln faces right on the penny:](http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/fun_facts/?action=fun_facts4) “The direction that Lincoln faces on the cent was not mandated—this was simply the choice of the designer.” > [@ChezzaAU](#): > > Reading this prompted me to check out my notes and coins (Australia). All the coins have the profile of Queen Elizabeth, facing left to right. By tradition, she faces that way because her father’s portrait faced the left. (Edward VIII, had he stayed around long enough to get coins, was going to buck that tradition because he thought the left side of his face looked nicer.) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/10 "2013-11-03T06:58:50Z")
Another factor is how the coin wears during its years of usage. I have some old coins that are fairly well-worn, but you can still decipher the silhouette. [Here](http://www.bhcoinclub.org/images/coins/AG.htm10.jpg)’s an example of a very worn coin whose profile is still recognizable. A full-face portrait would wear down to just an amorphous blob. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/11 "2013-11-03T08:05:10Z")
I don’t think there are any other ways for profiles to face. 🙂 In my experience, just about all coins with heads on them at all have profiles. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/12 "2013-11-03T09:09:55Z")
The Spanish one euro coin has sort of an in-between of full face and profile, depicting King Juan Carlos: [Picture.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/2_euro_Spain.png) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/13 "2013-11-03T09:33:31Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > By tradition, she [Queen Elizabeth] faces that way because her father’s portrait faced the left. (Edward VIII, had he stayed around long enough to get coins, was going to buck that tradition because he thought the left side of his face looked nicer.) They have alternated since Charles 11 in 1660, but before that it gets complicated because the silver coins faced one way and base metal the other. Lord Feldon has the wrong king above. It is was George VI who is supposed to have chosen to face left because he vainly believed his left profile to be his better side. In fact the coins prepared for Edward VIII, but never officially issued, faced correctly to the right, and by reverting to the left as on his father’s (George V) coins, he was simply following the tradition of reversing the portrait direction of his predecessor. [http://www.24carat.co.uk/frame.php?url=britannia3.html](http://www.24carat.co.uk/frame.php?url=britannia3.html) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/14 "2013-11-03T12:04:15Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Some of the Thai coins show sort of in between profile and full face, and that looks odd. There may be some sort of problem getting it right in raised material but not a flat picture like on a banknote. > [@Schnitte](#): > > The Spanish one euro coin has sort of an in-between of full face and profile, depicting King Juan Carlos: [Picture.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/2_euro_Spain.png) Those are called three-quarters portraits. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/15 "2013-11-03T23:05:41Z")
Does anyone remember the right-wing controversy when the Kennedy half dollar was first issued? The profile was facing left, symobolizing Communism, and the designer’s initials, a stylized GR, supposedly looked like [a hammer and sickle.](http://http://www.aucmcoins.com/encyclopedia/u-s-silver-coins/u-s-modern-issues-1909-1964/kennedy-half-dollars-1964-to-date/) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/16 "2013-11-04T00:11:15Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I don’t think there are any other ways for profiles to face. 🙂 > > In my experience, just about all coins with heads on them at all have profiles. You could have them face up or down. Actually, we now have three-quarters faces, like Jefferson on the special edition nickle [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2006\_Nickel\_Proof\_Obv.png](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2006_Nickel_Proof_Obv.png) And some of the Presidential Dollars have been almost full-face. I don’t know why this was avoided in the past. To my knowledge, about the only full-face portraits on coins were ancient gorgons: [http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?\_adv\_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-900&va=Gorgon+Coins](http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-900&va=Gorgon+Coins) I wrote a whole book about these portraits, and how they are full-face in almost all ancient art. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/17 "2013-11-04T02:54:27Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Does anyone remember the right-wing controversy when the Kennedy half dollar was first issued? The profile was facing left, symobolizing Communism, and the designer’s initials, a stylized GR, supposedly looked like [a hammer and sickle.](http://http://www.aucmcoins.com/encyclopedia/u-s-silver-coins/u-s-modern-issues-1909-1964/kennedy-half-dollars-1964-to-date/) I don’t remember anything like that at all. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/18 "2013-11-04T06:06:25Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I don’t know why this was avoided in the past. To my knowledge, about the only full-face portraits on coins were ancient gorgons: > > [Yahoo Image Search](http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-900&va=Gorgon+Coins) > I wrote a whole book about these portraits, and how they are full-face in almost all ancient art. **panache45** gave a very nice example of why: > [@panache45](#): > > [Here](http://www.bhcoinclub.org/images/coins/AG.htm10.jpg)’s an example of a very worn coin whose profile is still recognizable. A full-face portrait would wear down to just an amorphous blob. A Gorgon’s frontal portrait would remain recognizable after that much wear where a human’s frontal wouldn’t quite become an amorphous blob but would be a lot less recognizable than a profile (“person with crown”… “person with crown, maybe different from the previous one or maybe not”…), as well as having the mythological element of being the head’s “reflection” rather than its portrait. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/19 "2013-11-04T07:25:37Z")
I’m still wondering what “ten chars” means. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960/20 "2013-11-04T14:25:30Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I’m still wondering what “ten chars” means. It’s filler to meet the minimum post length. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-profiles-on-us-coins-facing-left-or-right/672960.md?page=2)