@dwhiz- this one made me think of you, for some reason. It's being auctioned by a seller I believe is the artist himself. I have not done business with him, but have admired his work in the past. This is a nice one and will not go cheap.
There's a link right there in the OP. It's on eBay. At $162.50 as of this post, with 1 day and 17 hours left. I would be surprised if it closed for less than $250-ish. Yeah, the really good hobo creations nowadays do not go cheap, as mentioned. Competition for the more prominent and talented artists' work is always strong. But that is as it should be. I have noticed that modern hobo engravings are more expensive than the 19th century love token engravings, usually, but they are more elaborate.
Wanna see the work of one of the finest hobo engravers in the business? Aleksey Saburov's originals often go for four figures. (His one-of-a-kind hand-carved ones, not his mass-produced "tokens", that is.)
He should be commissioned to redesign the cent. Extremely cool coins https://static.wixstatic.com/media/.../8d859e_11404028130e40a7ac27108dd0f8eb1c.webp
Indeed. Who is it who uses that same Saburov Lincoln potrait with the top hat as an avatar here? Embarrassingly, my memory eludes me for the moment. (Edit- it's @juris klavins.)
That is a beautiful coin. I agree with @Hommer he needs to be on the artist infusion program and design some new coins for us.
I'll guess $265.00. In late 2016 I bid on modern hobo carvings for the first time and almost always lost. Only once did I win on a more intricate piece: this one called "The Helmsman" by David HJ He ("HJH"), done in 2016 on a 1900 dime, which I won for $67.61. I was an underbidder on this one called "Fisherman" done by the same artist on a 1915 quarter. It closed for $202.55 on eBay in July, 2016.
Oh, yeah- I owned this great little owl done on a 2015 quarter, too, until somebody "made me an offer I couldn't refuse" and I sold it.
Yes, I remember seeing that one on CU, though I can't remember whose it was. I loathe the "skull" fad in the modern carvings- that theme been done to death (and often clumsily), as bad as clowns on the vintage hobo nickels were. Skulls and skeletons are a dime a dozen nowadays. But I'd make an exception for that piece. That shows not only fine workmanship but imagination, like a hobo carving should.