"Three-Cent Chicken"
lordmarcovan
Posts: 43,671 ✭✭✭✭✭
"Three-Cent Chicken"
Pictorial love token on 1851 silver three-cent piece
Larger obverse image
Larger reverse image
Host coin: 1851 silver three-cent piece. Obverse: original six-pointed star design, unaltered. Reverse: planed off and re-engraved with image of a chicken (probably a rooster) left, with grass/foliage below, surrounded by simple lined border. Ex-"palmislandcoinsandcurrency" (eBay), 07/09/2016.
This is a relatively simple but quite well-executed pictorial love token. It was desirable enough in that right, but since it is also on a slightly less common host coin I found it all the more desirable. As the silver three-cent piece or "trime" was the United States' smallest silver coin, they had to be a bit more difficult for engraving artists to work on. The artist here did a good job and obviously had some experience. Additionally, the 1851 date on the host coin was the first year for this type.
Engraved/Counterstamped/Oddball Type Set
Pictorial love token on 1851 silver three-cent piece
Larger obverse image
Larger reverse image
Host coin: 1851 silver three-cent piece. Obverse: original six-pointed star design, unaltered. Reverse: planed off and re-engraved with image of a chicken (probably a rooster) left, with grass/foliage below, surrounded by simple lined border. Ex-"palmislandcoinsandcurrency" (eBay), 07/09/2016.
This is a relatively simple but quite well-executed pictorial love token. It was desirable enough in that right, but since it is also on a slightly less common host coin I found it all the more desirable. As the silver three-cent piece or "trime" was the United States' smallest silver coin, they had to be a bit more difficult for engraving artists to work on. The artist here did a good job and obviously had some experience. Additionally, the 1851 date on the host coin was the first year for this type.
Engraved/Counterstamped/Oddball Type Set
0
Comments
Does look like a nice ***** to me.
8 Reales Madness Collection
8 Reales Madness Collection
WNC Coins, LLC
1987-C Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
wnccoins.com
Does look like a nice ***** to me.
Yes, now there is photographic proof that I have a small ****.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
If it was a 51-O the MM could have been turned into an egg. I really like how the shading/"feathers" are executed on the bird's back. Nice work on such a tiny coin!
Now that would've been megacool! I did wonder if the host coin could've been an 1851-O.
Guess we'll never know, unless there's some super specialist obverse diagnostic?
As it is, I'll call it an "1851-0". (Note the final character, as in zero mintmark remaining.)
Neat
ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
If it was a 51-O the MM could have been turned into an egg. I really like how the shading/"feathers" are executed on the bird's back. Nice work on such a tiny coin!
You've got a pretty awesome collection of these by now.
That looks like some pretty intricate work on a small canvas.
You've got a pretty awesome collection of these by now.
Thanks. It's growing. I've got a car payment for the first time in 30 years, so my already small budget has become even smaller, and upgrades to my primary Box of 20 collection will come much less often. This modest, quirky little sideline collection gives me something to play with without having to spend too much. So far I've only wandered into 3-figure pricetag territory once for this Oddball set- most of this stuff has had mid-2-figure pricetags, which is much more budget-friendly. Furthermore, it's just cool stuff, every piece is unique, and it all packs a lot of bang for the buck, particularly in the cases where I'm able to sleuth out some of the backstory behind the individual pieces.
My goals is for it to evolve into a type set along Dansco-7070-style lines.
Coin is in hand now. Seeing such a tiny thing with so intricate an engraving gives me new respect for the long-dead artist who did it.
I have spoons with crests engraved like that. I've always admired the work of a good engraver!
Great piece, Rob!
My YouTube Channel