Recently I encountered a phenomenon that had, until now, totally escaped my notice — the world of Hobo Nickels. Once you know to look for them, you can find a plethora of websites dedicated to the collecting of these fascinating objects.
In brief, a Hobo Nickel is a coin that has been re-engraved, carved, or augmented on one or both sides. This, in effect, defaces the coin, making it no longer legal tender, but turns the object into a miniature sculpture often given as a keepsake. The practice was popular as early as 1750, primarily in Britain, France and South Africa.
From Wikipedia:
“The art form made its way to the Americas in the 1850s, where the most common form of coin alteration was the “potty coin”, engraved on United States Seated Liberty coinage (half dime through trade dollar) and modifying Liberty into a figure sitting on a chamber pot. This time period was also the heyday of the love token, which was made by machine-smoothing a coin (usually silver) on one or both sides, then engraving it with initials, monograms, names, scenes, etc., often with an ornate border. Hundreds of thousands of coins were altered in this manner. They were often mounted on pins or incorporated into bracelets and necklaces. ”
The practice eventually expanded to include many different images. Vintage carvings typically looked a lot like these:
There seems to be a thriving collectors’ community for Hobo Nickels, both the vintage coins and new works being done today. There is a faithful community of artists producing the miniature bas-reliefs, and some works sell for many thousands of dollars.
Here are some modern examples:
It’s a fascinating world. If you’re interested, you can read more about Hobo Nickels at http://www.hobonickels.org/graphics/tri_fold.pdf or http://www.hobonickels.org/what_is.html
