Am I the Only One Never Heard of a 'HOBO NICKEL' Before?

Reaganite Republican ^ | 06 October 2015 | Reaganite Republican

[Reaganite Republican]

 

Certainly no lack of historical curiosity in my noggin, but this one's new on me.
Hard to imagine how I missed it, because it's a delightful folk art form to be sure- pure Americana.

Due to the relative cheapness, softness, portability, and (adequate) thickness for sculpturing,
the US 5-cent coin proved perfect for carving into highly-creative works that can be carried around in your pocket. 

Alterations of coins had occurred in Europe, S. Africa, and the US in the 18th and 19th century -in cruder forms-
but introduction of the 'Buffalo' nickel in 1913 brought about a surge in popularity of the sculptures, as the large, raised Indian on the coin allowed plenty of material to work with. 

I remember as a young coin collector that the too-high date on the lower left of the Indian wore off faster than any coin,
leading inevitably to dateless nickels- the buffalo nickel design was flawed from that standpoint. But the thick, raised Indian relief was what made it so ideal for hobo nickels.

The 'hobo nickel' term itself is generic, as they've come to include all denominations of coins, US and otherwise.
The art form enjoyed a significant renaissance in the 1980s in the wake of a book published on the topic by a numismatics expert... thus the modern variants:

[gallery]

[Reaganite Republican]

***PING***

[cripplecreek]

I’ve heard of them. Interesting stuff.

[Paul46360]

It's kinda like this...

[Idaho_Cowboy]

First I’d heard of them, thanks for sharing.

[archy]

You see 'em on dogtag chains sometimes....

[smokingfrog]

I like that eagle coin. I’m guessing the silver coins were a lot easier to work with than today’s coins.

[Reaganite Republican]

Oh, I don’t know how you’d do anything with the coins now, I think they are layered and almost plated with cheap stuff inside.

They used to have a layer of copper in the coins in the center until that went up

[greene66]

There also used to be something called a “hobo pocketknife.” A real pocketknife, but the blade was connected and encased within a thick wire-like, outer frame. I carried one in school for about a year or two.

[Reaganite Republican]

I read somewhere today people use them as jewelry but never heard of that, either.

Some of the ones they sell on ebay go for big bucks too, depends how well know the artist, and there are young guys at it too now in 2015, it appears

[Menehune56]

I had heard the term but had no idea what it meant. Thanks for posting this article.

As a side note, I noticed that the issue of legality was not mentioned. I found another website that indicates that Hobo Nickels are considered by the Treasury Department to be mutilated coins and thus no longer legal tender. However their numismatic value more than makes up for that.

[Reaganite Republican]

I put in my text ‘they were no longer legal tender’ just assuming that was the case but actually took that out ‘cuz I read a lot of them remained in circulation.

One thing is if the coin was nickel, silver, or gold it was probably of similar meltdown value anyway- but artistic value of the nickel would have to exceed face value of a nickel, even back then- gotta be worth a buck, right?

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Amazing.

[virgil283]

Great Stuff .......here's some more photos.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3062208/posts

[Bigg Red]

Yes, I have heard of these, but only because some FReeper posted a piece about them about a year or so ago.

I had a friend in college who wore a beautiful ring that her father had found. It was a Liberty dime that someone had reworked so that only the Liberty head was visible, while the rest of the dime apparently made up what became the part that actually encircles the finger.

[Cowboy Bob]

I think today they are referred to as “Homeless nickels.”

[WayneS]

That’s an Obozo Nickel.

[DCBryan1]

That’s a HOMO dollar.

[Reaganite Republican]

Neat- the Mercury dime is for me a favorite, gorgeous coin

[Reaganite Republican]

lolol!