Picked up a cool piece today @ melt. It’s an 1894 South Africa 1 Shilling that has obverse graffiti. There’s a hat, pipe, smoke, a beard and collar work. Pretty neat and I’m happy to have it.
Nice coin! Too bad someone messed it up. It was a nice effort but falls short of being neat in my opinion. I just think that they could have done a better job. Hey, though! If your happy with the coin, then that's all that matters.
I've seen a few of these. Almost always on a Shilling, but occasionally on higher denominations. This one sold last year in a Stacks auction for $168. I've had this one for a while.
Ah, yes. The Oom Paul pipesmoker pieces. These must have been quite the cottage industry back around the Boer War era. I wonder if they were Boer War “trench art”, made as souvenirs for British soldiers to bring home. I’ve not heard confirmation of such, but it’s a pet hypothesis of mine. I’ve had one such piece in the past.
