Although Hobo nickels are definitely defaced coins, you have to remember that the defacement was done as a necessity at the time. Hobos would sell these mini works of art to get enough money to feed themselves and keep them alive.
They are not coins. They are not tokens. They were never meant to be spent. My budget is only so large. Last thing I need something else to help gobble it up.
I'm with Mountain Man on this one. There is a history dating to the depression era, but newbies I have no interest in. Thank you
Fair enough... I feel as if the older ones are more acceptable since they have an actual story behind it... (not that I've seen one)... But the newer ones are just defaced coins... unless they are Dan Carr coins
I don't really mind if it's done on ones with dates as most of those are fairly common. Go to any coin store and there are boxes of them where each coin is less than $1. I sold a few from a lot I bought for $0.30-$0.40 each and there wasn't much interest. If someone wants to make modern hobos and that actually creates a market for these coins that would otherwise sit indefinitely in inventory, that is a win overall in my view.
I wouldn’t know how to tell but if I were to get a new one vs an old one and I KNEW the difference I’d keep the old one because of the story behind it
Dark Lord, I haven't got this one yet, but had to buy it when I saw it. Actually, I asked the carver to make this one for me from a photo of one he carved few years ago. I paid him to do it early this morning and he just sent me this photo. It will be shipping tomorrow. Z
While these are not technically "hobo nickels", I liked the subject matter enough to pick these up as well. Skinny Enrique and Uncle Hellboy . . . . Z