Willie Nelson “hobo nickel” by Aleksey Saburov
The origins of using coins as an artistic medium can be traced back to the late 1700s. Sometime around 1850, artists started altering the half-dime Seated Liberty coin to make it appear as though the “Goddess Liberty” (a title that was used as far back as ancient Rome, who knew) clad in a flowing dress seated upon a rock, was actually sitting on a toilet. Classy.
Hobo nickel by George Washington ‘Bo’ Hughes, early 1900s
In 1913, the “Buffalo nickel” (or “Indian Head”), became popular for coin carvers as it provided a larger, thicker canvas to work on - enabling artists to create more detailed pieces. Around that same time, two teenage transients (or “hobos”) Bertram ‘Bert’ Wiegand and George Washington ‘Bo’ Hughes met in a “jungle” (or a “hobo camp”) and quickly rose to prominence as masters in the trade.
Using chisels to alter coins, solid currency was easily had within the transient community who were then enabled to make money selling their carved coins (something that was especially useful during The Great Depression). Thus the adoption of the common reference for these defaced coins—“hobo nickles”—came to be. I’m sure some Dangerous Minds readers more enlightened with Americana than I, have heard this phrase before, but it was new to me and I suspect the artform for which it is named, will be new to many of you as well.
Jack Torrance hobo nickel by Mr. The
Artists have never really stopped using money as a medium, and there are still lots of modern day hobo nickel artists out there using much more sophisticated means to carve up coins. I’ve included loads of images in this post that I think you will dig looking at, routinely sell for a few hundred bucks a pop to collectors. Some of the following images may be considered NSFW.
Hobo nickel by Steven Cox
Jason Voorhees
John Merrick (The Elephant Man) hobo nickel
Hobo nickel gun carving by James Olivencia
Hobo nickel by Jefferson Monticello
Hobo nickel by Adam Leech
Traditional hobo nickel by Howard Thomas
Richard Nixon
Albert Einstein
Vincent Price by Mr. The
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Paintings of Divine, Apu, Amy Winehouse, Princess Leia and more, using old coins as a canvas