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Probably the most beautiful Hobo nickels in the world
04.23.2019
04:46 pm
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Roman Booteen is a master of crafting hobo nickels. He carves intricate designs featuring icons from pop culture, literature, history and film onto American nickels and silver dollars. Based in Yekaterinburg, the fourth largest city in Russia, Booteen’s incredible one-off coins sell for hundreds to thousands of dollars each. In 2017, his “1921 Morgan Dollar Hobo Nickel” was sold for a staggering $10,101. Nice.

Modifying coins by carving a bas-relief onto their surfaces has been around since the middle of the eighteenth-century. Such decorated coins were given as gifts and love tokens or worn as jewelry on bracelets or necklaces. In America, this kind of coin carving grew in popularity with the introduction of the Buffalo nickel in 1913, as the nickel had a larger, more malleable surface which was especially suitable for carving minute detail. These modified coins were called “Hobo nickels” as they were mainly crafted by itinerants as a way to make money or exchange their handicraft for food.

Booteen’s work has evolved from simple bas relief to one coin featuring a “gold bug” which can open its wings (inspired by the story by Poe) and another that has a finger trap with teeth which can literally chomp thru wood. Little is known about Booteen. He keeps a low-profile which has led to him being described as a “man of mystery.” However, he shares his work via Instagram and Facebook and his hobo nickels sell on eBay. He also does a wild selection of engravings for Zippo lighters (see below) and Hotco.co will be releasing a limited replica edition of his “The Trap With the Golden Bait” this year.
 
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Posted by Paul Gallagher
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04.23.2019
04:46 pm
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Splendor in the Cash: Incredibly intricate designs carved on coins
10.31.2016
11:44 am
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“Hobo nickels” is the term given to coins that have been altered with decorative carving. Though there is a long tradition of such carving going as far back as the 1700s, hobo nickels really came to prominence after the US Mint issued a new 5¢ coin in 1913. This coin featured an Native American head on one side and a buffalo on the other. This coin became known as the “Buffalo nickel” or “Indian head.” Due its size and the softness of its metal, the Buffalo nickel became a popular medium for trying out engraving skills by carving faces onto the coin.

During the First World troops were known for turning these coins into mementoes for sweethearts, family members and loved ones while awaiting departure for France at docks in Hoboken, NJ. Many of the hobo nickels produced around this time feature caricatures of Kaiser Wilhelm and German soldiers.

By the 1930s, it was mainly hobos who carved elaborate portraits or designs onto coins which they would then exchange for a hot meal or some essential goods.

British artist Shaun Hughes continues this tradition of hobo nickels by engraving beautiful, elaborate designs onto nickels, quarters and British pennies and shillings. His coins are pocket artworks which sell on eBay for around $5-$200 apiece—which is a nice way to increase the value of your cash.

Shaun doesn’t do commissions but you can see more of his work and his working processes here.
 
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More valuable coin art, after the jump…

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Posted by Paul Gallagher
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10.31.2016
11:44 am
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‘Hobo nickels’: The super-old-school art of hand-sculpted coins
11.05.2015
11:44 am
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Willie Nelson hobo nickel
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
Hobo nickel by George Washington ‘Bo’ Hughes, early 1900s
 
One-eyed sailor Hobo nickel
 
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.
 
Hobo Nickel
 
Jack Torrance hobo nickel by Mr. The
Jack Torrance hobo nickel by Mr. The
 
More ‘hobo nickels’ after the jump…

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Posted by Cherrybomb
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11.05.2015
11:44 am
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