Coin in a rock, lava, Italy, can anyone provide information?

[WilliamBoyd]

Lava Coin, Italian coin in a lava rock

My friend has this coin in a rock.

Rock showing coin

Rock backside

The coin is a bronze Italy 5 Centesimi 1919, about 20mm diameter.

It is encased in a rock, possibly lava.
The rock is 2-1/2" x 2" (6cm x 5cm) and weighs 87 gm.

My friend told me her parents had the item and that it may have been from a building fire.

We were speculating that someone pressed the coin into some hot or warm lava.

Any ideas?

 

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[vpnavy]

Neat - don't forget to keep us informed if you learn anything from your other Forum post.

 

[OhioPlugger]

Although I'm not sure of the object exactly (my searches came up with nothing), it definitely looks like it was pressed as you speculated. Of course that's only assumption but what makes it seem pressed is the edges of the hole the coin is sitting in. It seems to fit the coin perfectly. Plus taking into account the depth. I can't think of any way that, in that situation, the coin could have gotten that far into the object. It seems to me it may be some type of souvenir or keepsake someone made by pressing the coin into the rock. Just my 2 cents, hopefully you can find out more about that thing, it looks awesome!

 

[NOLA_Ken]

There was an eruption of the volcano at Stromboli Italy in 1919.... possibly a souvenir of that?

 

[bradyboy]

I have to agree with the souvenir direction - almost obvious
if it was trapped in lava and recovered, the lava likely would have melted the coin.
Also the space around the coin edge shows the coin was set into a hole larger than the coin
Just my opinion
BradyBoy

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

Lava really ?? If someone pressed that into lava you would imagine they got burned bad.... Looks like blacktop/road tar... Someone must have pressed it, into something like that.
Not as cool or as impressive as lava but a 1919 coin in a lump of blacktop perfectly displayed is still impressive !!

Keep @ it and HH !!

 

[Indian Steve]

I have one identical to it somewhere in my pile only mine has an Indian Head cent {I think} in it.

 

[Indian Steve]

I got mine in a box of rocks and Indian relics at a farm auction over 20 years ago. I thought then that someone had pressed the coin into asphault or something like that. It's in one of the dozens of boxes of rocks in my house but I will try to find it.

 

[WilliamBoyd]

I just found this article on coins in lava:

York Museums Trust Blog

 

[danahw]

I have a similar coin pressed into lava that was a souvenir of my great Aunt who visited Pompeii in about 1920. Hers has a copper coin with a man's profile facing left. The coin is very worn and I cannot identify any writing (edges look a little melted.) The ear is the most prominent feature, hair is short, and neckline is cut on a diagonal. The Stromboli eruption sounds like a good possibility--- the lava looks very similar to the picture shown above. Thoughts?

 

[WilliamBoyd]

Another suspect volcano, Mt. Etna:

I received an email yesterday from an man in Italy who said that the lava rock was colored
more like a piece from Mt. Etna in Sicily than Mt. Vesuvius.

He also wrote that there are lots of souvenir shops near Mt. Etna selling lava pieces,
but he did not see any with coins in them.

 

[sutphin]

LOOKS LIKE ONE OF THOSE SET IT AND FORGET IT PEICES. BUT PRESS IN PLACE SOUNDS BETTER.

 

[WilliamBoyd]

Another example of lava coins from a different part of the world.

In 1907 Martin Johnson (later the African explorer and filmmaker with Osa Johnson) hired on to the boat the Snark which was owned by writer Jack London and his wife Charmian.

They sailed to the South Pacific and visited various islands. At one island, Upolu, a volcano was erupting. The crew members walked on dried lava and watched slow flows moving down the mountainside.

Then they stuck coins onto the ends of sticks and dipped them into the lava to make souvenirs.

(By the way my friend gave the above lava coin to me some time ago)