I got this coin (which was made into a necklace) from my mom. It's of a Native American Indian, and I'd like to try and find out any information about the coin I can. Who's the Indian, when it was minted, etc. I've attached a picture of the front & one of the back. She bought it a long time ago from a Navajo Indian from what I understand at Knotts Berry Farm when they were having a spring craft's event within the park. I've attempted looking it up on my own without much luck. Any help would be great! I forgot to add it's about the size of a half-dollar!
Thank you & I agree!! I wear it everyday & I've had so many people ask me about it! I only wish I knew myself so I could answer questions about it! One day when I was at the library, I found a thick book on coin values and went through the US & Canada's dollar coin & special coins sections, but didn't find anything there either (figuring if I could find a picture, it would have a title or something that I could research!)
It is not a coin but a silver round, that was privatly produced, I have seen some up on ebay. Hope this is some help
I don't know if this will help much, I just counted 148 denticles inside of the obverse rim. Probably add 2 or 3 where the chain ring is. Maybe someone has an exact count on each series of half dollars...
You are so right, I didn't look at the reverse very carefully, had my eyes on denticles. .999 silver is a dead give away...
Yep thats why I said it was a silver round and not a coin LOL Sort of like this one on Ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/Silver-Round-In...n?hash=item5ad2ac236e&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116
I always thought of it as a coin, but not one that would be used for general use, Kind of like how the mint makes special "coins" for different events. It's interesting you've seen some on ebay, I'll have to get on there and look. Do they say who made them, etc? A member, cherylkubucko, sent me a PM, and sent me a link to a site with this picture on it. It looks the same as my necklace. It's the first clue in a puzzle to me! LoL!!
Yep it is quite possible that someone carved it out of that at a quick count I think there were well over 60 different types of rounds and art bars that I could see with Indians o them made by quite a few different companies so sorry I cant be more precise But the one thing I am quite deffinate about is it is no coin LOL Just go into ebay coins, then bullion and enter Indian or Indian chief
Well, thank you so very much for your help too! It's pointed me in a direction to try and find more out! Thanks again!
Good luck and let us know what you find out It never stops amazing me what people can do with coins (rounds etc) just have a look at some of the Hobo coins :thumb: LOL Abe dont worry about it mate we all do it
This could be a hobo/carved piece especially if made from an old silver coin but the words (devices) on the reverse top edge of your piece, seem to say "American Indian" and that seems to be part of the original design of some token and not a old silver denomination coin. Perhaps this was a silver art round as mentioned earlier or a silver (souvenir) token. A craft person may have simply altered the coin/token for jewelry purposes by trimming out the design to leave the negative space. I've seen people at craft shows selling quarters with the same idea, portrait trimmed out leaving the outer rim of the coin, affixing a loop and chain to create a necklace. The portrait on your piece might turn out to be a stylized figure and not a particular identifiable Chief. However, the portrait looks a lot like the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Chief Red Cloud in full headdress and regalia, especially since he's wearing that disc-like medal that's very similar to the one which appears in a well known portrait of the Chief at the above link. There are very few photographic portraits of Red Cloud and other Chiefs in their natural environs, and it is important to understand that many period portraits by the time these were taken, or coerced, bribed, etc. were heavily staged at the photographers request of the defeated, captured or imprisoned leaders to wear their traditional garments and regalia. For example the Apache leader Geronimo who was a prisoner of the Indian wars by the United States was 'allowed' to attend the 1904 Worlds Fair in St. Louis to sign autographs and carve arrow tips. The infamous Geronimo was a part of the exhibition of world cultures along with many other indigenous peoples, such as Ainu from Japan, native peoples of the Philippines, Inuit and African Pygmies who were all brought in from across the world. Edward Curtis was a 'frontier' photographer but particularly focused on staged photos of Native Americans. His photos are very powerful images but you have to view them knowing that the people in them were urged to act or dress according to the photographers wishes. Just thought some folks might like to know a little background or be interested in this aspect of Native American portraits and stylization that went on, and went onto coins in some cases.
Well it is cut from a silver round, and I would bet the image on the round was based on the portrait of the Sioux chief "Oncpapa" or Running Antelope" whose stylized portrait appears on the 1899 $5 silver certificate. (real name Ta-ti-ka-in-yna-ka, of the Oncpapa Sioux tribe. Most people apply the name of to the tribe to the person. The headdress is actually Pawnee not Sioux and was added to the portrait by the engraver through artistic license.) Image of the note Image of the portrait from which the note engraving was made from.
