Hobo Nickel and Magicians Coin

[Argentium]

Jay, That's important information ! You might want to PM the OP with that -just in case she doesn't see your reply.

 

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[senecalisa]

You folks are awesome!! Would love more information. Thanks for checking out my post.

 

[WheatWaffle]

Just saw this post and those coins are amazing! Great job on getting those coins.

 

[stefen]

There has been dug Hobo's in TN's archives for the past...a search will find prior posts...

I have a collection of several hundred hobos collected over the past 35 or so years...color enhancements are recent...

The Kaiser appears to be a more contemporary laser etched coin...

 

[senecalisa]

The hobo nickel was obtained pre 1960. Does that still mean its contemporary??

 

[jeff of pa]

The hobo nickel was obtained pre 1960. Does that still mean its contemporary??

Everyone has their own Ideas on that.

as per Wiki The number of hobos increased greatly during the Great Depression era of the 1930s.
Hobo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia which is the Era I would think the Hobo Nickel
was mostly made.

also as per Wiki

Classic old hobo nickels (1913–1940)

Many talented coin engravers, as well as newcomers, started creating hobo nickels in 1913, when the Buffalo nickel entered circulation. This accounts for the quality and variety of engraving styles found on carved 1913 nickels. More classic old hobo nickels were made from 1913-dated nickels than any other pre-1930s date.

Many artists made hobo nickels in the 1910s and 1920s, with new artists joining in as the years went by. The 1930s saw many talented artists adopting the medium. Bertram Wiegand, known almost exclusively as Bert, began carving nickels in the teens, and his student George Washington Hughes, known as Bo, began carving in the late teens (and up to 1980). During this period, Buffalo nickels were the most common nickels in circulation.

Hobo nickel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So I would consider any made between those dates would be the most valuable.

I'm not sure How you tell an original from a contemporary since people can still buy nickles to carve.

of Course I thought I could tell yours was a contemporary because of the dark lines
but now I'm not so sure.

of course the date on yours being so sharp, makes me think it could have been Carved & taken out of Circulation early on.
dates on early buffalos don't last long in circulation

 

[stefen]

Look at the evolution of the art form and you will see the changes in the tools and the application...

Many of the contemporary coins are approaching forms beyond the early tears thanks to specialty drills, buffers and laser craft.

The majority of the earlier coins used the Indian head and altered the face, nose and hair to create new faces...many were signed or initialed...

The contemporary create new faces, scenes and animals using current metal craft tools...

So, in my opinion, the 1960 coin is more like 1980 or later...

 

[senecalisa]

Ok so after a little help from Jay (thank you Jay) pointing me in the right direction I was able to locate the other nickel. The 1913 was on the Original Hobo Nickel site and the 1916 is mine. So for a side by side (or top to bottom rather) comparison they look pretty darn close. What do you guys think??

 

[Argentium]

In my estimation these are way too close to be anything other than the same artist. When you throw in the point about yours having been collected at latest
in the very early 1960's - I think you have a first generation "Snidely" !

(under extreme magnification rotary tool marks left by modern dremels ,power gravers , etc. can be detected - this is one sure
way of distinguishing a vintage Hobo from a "regeneration" Hobo.)