Man with pipe hobo 1917 Lincoln cent
jonathanb
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Interesting engraved Lincoln cents are somewhat harder to find than larger coinage. I assume this is original but of course I have no way to prove it.
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Comments
Great coin.
I am not sure what "original" means, though. My best guess is that it made sometime between 1917 and now.
Looking at it, I wonder if some power tools were used. I only say this because I don't see any distortion on the reverse, and if some of that was chiselled I might expect to see some evidence of the impacts.
But who knows....
I do wish they'd sign these things.
That's pretty cool
If I had to guess I'd think it was done closer to 1917 than 2017. I think the cent was soft enough that such small tool marks could be made leaving no distortion evident on the reverse.
I go back and forth on the age.
The ear is very smooth and round. Looks like a rotary tool rather than a chisel. Also, the coloring is not consistent - much of the outline is not blackened while all all of the detail is.
A hobo nickel carver would know better about the techniques used. I am not sure there are any here on the forum.
Excellent hobo cent!
Nice find.... No way to date, but would be interested in the opinion of some Hobo Nickel experts. Either way, it would be a keeper for me. Cheers, RickO
That's cool.....The beard and the hair look like they were done with leather working tools.
Me likes it a lot!!
Pete
I like this coin. It's a keeper.
Awesome
Very nice carving by a talented artist. I have collected "original" hobo carvings on nickels and other denominations for over 20 years and this one definitely looks to be an "original". "Original" generally refers to those carvings done prior to 1980. This one was likely carved long before that date. Thanks for sharing the photo.