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Birds have adorned coins forever. With their nuanced symbolism and timeless aesthetic appeal, feathered friends have long been favorites for francs and florins, farthings and fifty-cent pieces.
Famously, the ancient Greeks paid homage to Athena on the silver tetradrachm. The helmeted head of the goddess of wisdom appears on the obverse, paired with a reverse image of a wide-eyed, all-seeing owl.
It came full circle in 2002, when the Greece-themed 1 euro coin featured the same wise, iconic owl that first glared out at Athenians in 482 BCE.
In the United States, the bird we most associate with coins is the bald eagle. Since the Coinage Act of 1792 mandated the use of an eagle on every gold and silver coin designed for the new U.S. Mint, the great symbol of American independence has remained a coin art constant — and even lends its name to some of our most iconic and artful coins.
Bird Symbolism From Ancient To Modern Times
Long before the Founding Fathers chose the eagle to be America’s symbol of freedom, the Greeks and the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt gave the eagle center stage. To them — and just as important, to their trading partners — the great bird, with its ability to soar among the clouds, cemented their bond with Zeus and projected economic as well as military strength.
Their message? Like Zeus and the eagle, our leaders are powerful, above mortal concerns. But, like Athena and the owl, our leaders also are wise. And like Croesus, we are rich beyond your dreams.
In the millennia since, bird imagery has been used on coins and banknotes to represent purity and grace (the dove), pride and wealth (the peacock), strength in overseas trade (the seagull), long life and prosperity (the crane), joy (the hummingbird), intelligence (the raven), and many other admirable human qualities.
Part propaganda, part aspiration, part artistic expression, bird engravings on our coinage send a message across the ages: We possess the sophistication to create money from precious metals, and we also appreciate beautiful things.
Below are five fabulous examples of how designers used images of birds to market a message, inspire citizens, and elevate coins to an art form.
Five Epic Bird-Themed Coins From Around The World
Canada: More Than Just Loonies
While Canada’s famous $1 coin is named for a prominent waterfowl, the common loon, the Robert Ralph-Carmichael designed Loonie just scratches the surface of that nation’s commitment to birds on coins.
The popular Canadian Birds of Prey series from 2014-15 was followed up 10 years later by one of the most audaciously avian coins in human history: the Cathy Boursin-Sabourin Heraldic Landscape Birds of Canada $50 commemorative. Ironically, the one image you won’t find among the circular flock of 13 waterfowl, birds of prey, grouse, and jays is the Canada Goose.
Austria’s Melancholy Message Of Joy
A 2022 commemorative 5 euro minted by Austria as a New Year’s token uses bird imagery in copper and silver to represent the fleeting nature of happiness. The coin’s design is based on a Viennese folk song called “Happiness is a Little Bird.” The lyrics tell of a bird on the wing, flitting in and out, difficult to catch, impossible to keep, but worth the chase every time.
The bird depicted is surrounded by “good luck” symbols like musical notes, stars, a diamond, a crown, and a shamrock. It resembles a sparrow, but it is a stylized, clockwork image with gently flowing wings, a loopy tail, and a heart almost too big to fit.
France: Pride, Courage, Vigilance
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The French symbol of the Gallic rooster depicts a swaggering citizen of the barnyard, keeping watch over the national ideals of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité. Just look at that proud rascal on the venerable 20 gold franc from the early 20th century. He dares you to rise to the occasion.
His noble strut and determined posture embody the French spirit. Can’t you just hear the notes of “La Marseillaise” sounding through the narrow streets of the Left Bank?
America, Spread Your Golden Wings
Two eagle-related myths endure in U.S. history. The Founding Fathers did not actually choose the bald eagle to be the national bird. And Benjamin Franklin never seriously endorsed the turkey ahead of the eagle.
Franklin merely lamented the fact that eagles were scavengers, rather than accomplished fish catchers. And the turkey, he wrote, was a “much more respectable bird.”
Furthermore, the bald eagle was not officially the national bird until December 2024, when President Joe Biden signed into law a bill that originated with the National Eagle Center in Minnesota.
But the eagle has long represented America’s potential. And when it came time to forge new coins in gold and silver, the Founders made sure that the Coinage Act of April 2, 1792, said that, “... upon the reverse of each of the gold and silver coins there shall be the figure or representation of an eagle, with this inscription, ‘UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.’”
So, designer Robert Scot sat down and did his best to create an eagle portrait for the 1794 Flowing Hair Dollar. The eagle’s neck is a bit elongated (more like a turkey) but the first American silver dollar had a bird of some sort on it.
More dignified and regal renditions of the eagle were on the horizon.
The Most Beautiful Coin In The World
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Theodore Roosevelt relished action. He hunted, pursued warcraft, boxed, rode horses, and generally championed the rugged ideals mythologized by tales of the American frontier.
But Teddy was also a super-wealthy New Yorker who wrote a lot and whose Gilded Age tastes paralleled those of the Vanderbilts, Astors, and Rockefellers.
So, when the president sought to launch a “renaissance” of American coinage in the early 20th century, he enlisted renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The result? The 1907 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle, the peak of avian coin artistry.
It was just the thing that imperialistic and jingoistic Roosevelt had in mind: The predominant American symbol serving as a beacon to light the way to freedom. The eagle glides in glowing profile, framed by the rays of the sun, confident in flight and undaunted by the future.
As with many other avian symbols on many other coins, it was the perfect combination of propaganda, aspiration, and artistry.
There are thousands of years of bird-themed coins to explore. Collectors gravitate to eagles of all types, waterfowl, cranes, owls … even Donald Duck, Daffy, Woodstock, and Tweety.
Let your imagination soar.