Who wants to jump on the HCCC (Holed Coin Collectors Club) bandwagon?
lordmarcovan
Posts: 43,530 ✭✭✭✭✭
Not a "real" club, in any sense of the word- not yet, anyway. But we can get together at shows some day, maybe. And swap holey coins back-n-forth online.
Why holed coins?
Well...
Here's who's on board so far. I'll update the list as we get new members. Then those of you who have unwanted holed coins will know who to offer them to!
PS- Don't laugh too hard. There are more of us than you might think, and certainly more than you see on the list above.
Most just haven't come out of the closet yet.
Why holed coins?
Well...
- *One man's trash is another man's treasure.*It is a great (and inexpensive!) way to collect neat old coins that maybe you couldn't afford otherwise.*Holed coins need lovin', too- and they can be quite beautiful, and can often be bought for peanuts- even in high grade.*Generous people will often insist on giving you free coins for your collection, and won't let you pay for them.*How else can you wear your collection to a show? Or you can put 'em on your keychain, or your hat, or a leather jacket, or pin 'em to your bulletin board.*They have an aura of history- sometimes even moreso than their better-preserved unholed counterparts. You can easily imagine how they were used in the everyday life of our ancestors. Maybe they were made into a love token. Or strung as Indian wampum. Or worn as a charm. Or used by a slave to ward off evil spirits. Or sewn into a soldier's uniform so he could keep them safe, and wouldn't clink as he marched. Or maybe they have rectangular holes made by the old square nail that once affixed them to the roof or beam of a building, for good luck. The list goes on and on.*You don't have to be all paranoid if your coin is dingy-looking. Dip it! Or artificially toned. Who cares? Or whether it is a 66.9 or a 67.1, or PQ for the grade or in the right kind of plastic. If it looks good and you like it, go for it! You don't have to worry as much about humidity or PVC or album slidemarks or milk spots or whatever. Relax. It's just an old coin. Not the Holy Grail. (Or should I have said "Holey" Grail? LOL) You can keep 'em wherever you want, however you want, just like the oldtimers did before there were folders and albums and slabs and Intercept Shields and Airtites.*You can do any number of themes, type sets or date sets. Often the real challenge will not be affording the coin you need for your set, it will be finding one that is holed (no cheating, now- you cannot drill your own holes- that IS a numismatic crime! You can remove an old plug or finish a hole somebody once started, though- those coins are already damaged).*Those lovely old gold coins you've always wanted but never could afford? If your eye is sharp enough, you can sometimes find them at a mere fraction above their melt value. And they still sparkle just as nicely as the unholed ones. Plus they look really great on a hat. You can amass quite a hoard of gold and silver bullion, just by collecting holeys.*Those love tokens can often be habit-forming. The Seated dimes were very popular for love tokens in the later 1800's, and the engraving on some of them can be exquisite. That is all but a lost art, and each hand-engraved piece is a miniature masterpiece- they are as individual as snowflakes. Collecting these is a field in itself. Of course, not all were holed. But you can include some love tokens in your holey coin collection. Many of them also had loops or mounts soldered on, and it is up to you whether you want to include those or not (I don't consider them true "holeys").
Here's who's on board so far. I'll update the list as we get new members. Then those of you who have unwanted holed coins will know who to offer them to!
- lordmarcovanCarlwohlforthAshmoreslideriderGonfunkoBetta285PreTurbNeptuneeyoung429AuldFarttedorkkarldthigpenBaley SanctionIIMerz2earlwbollingertsacchcoinguy89GaCoinGuygoldrush00013ConstellatioCollectorSanctionII
PS- Don't laugh too hard. There are more of us than you might think, and certainly more than you see on the list above.
Most just haven't come out of the closet yet.
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Comments
Most recently, I have to thank 100proof1957, who sent me one of those little California fractional gold coins and wouldn't accept payment for it. Neither one of us has any clue if it is genuine or not, but it is a neat little piece.
And Bunker, who just up and sent me all of this stuff:
<< <i>9 Large cents 1827-18551835 Bust half dime1833 Bust Dime1877 Seated Dime1853 3cent Silver1870 3 cent nickel >>
I'll probably use one or two of these on my vest, and maybe get upgrades from one or two others, but the rest of these (and a good bit of my other duplicates) will be passed on, piece by piece, to folks who want to start off on the road toward the Whimsical World of Holeys.But don't join the HCCC just to get a free keychain ornament or piece of junk silver, please. Only serious collectors need apply. (If you can call somebody who collects damaged coins "serious"). I'll have to reserve my freebies for those who are brave enough to take a walk on the weird side of coin collecting. They'll find it's a lot of fun.
And that, after all, is what it's all about. Right?
Hey, I got my first ghost post!
jim
I'll post some nice holeys from time to time to show off my favorites.
Can I be Lady Neptune?
You have all my holed coins so I guess I can't join!!
While you are at it, send me a pm as I have an almost complete set of wheats from 1909 to 1958 that are in "good but worn" condition that you could make another hat or vest from!!!!
Hell, I don't need to exercise.....I get enough just pushing my luck.
You can include me. I have several on my keyring including:
1898 Barber half,
1803 Large Cent,
1853 Large Cent,
1806 Half Cent,
Canadian "Beaver" nickel,
Byzantine "Jesus" Bronze from about 1000 years ago.
I'm currently pondering the possibility of doing a "holed" US Type Set in my old Dansco album.
edit to add: Don't send me any, but thanks. I was gonna find one to send to you at the coin show here in October
My OmniCoin Collection
My BankNoteBank Collection
Tom, formerly in Albuquerque, NM.
I'll keep an eye out for more "holey" coins for your collection
K S
I was actually introduced to coin collecting, inadvertantly, by a holed coin. My grandfather had a holed 1942 Half Dollar that he wore on his dog tags through WW2, he gave it to my father when he was getting shipped off to Vietnam and was wore around my father's neck during his deployment. When I enlisted in the Army, my father gave it to me and while I couldn't wear it around my neck (Was Airborne), I always had it on my dog tags in my back pocket of my BDUs during jumps/deployments. My mother swears it's an omen of bad luck and has requested that should my offspring join the military, that I *not* pass it on, as my grandfather, father, and I all were fairly badly injured during our military tours - but hey, none of us died, I consider it about as lucky as one can get
Self Indulgence | Holey Coins | Flickr Photostream
I have a few more of these, and will be doing a "holey" baseball cap at some point...
current needs include a 3 cent silver and a bust quarter, have extra seated dimes available for trade
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Whirrrrrrr.........
Paul
My heart was crushed.
MCDBA MCSD MCSA
http://www.sqlgeek.org
Now you went and created demand, forcing me to put my holeys up for auction instead of for sale. Just joking, great idea you have here. I knew you had one in you just waiting to come out.
Louis
K S
I only have one holed coin.It was given to me by a friend and fellow collector.It is a 1874 Trade $.Do I qualify ?
Registry 1909-1958 Proof Lincolns
My wife ain't getting this one, it's all mine.
Count me in.
every treasure on Earth
to be young at heart?
And as rich as you are,
it's much better by far,
to be young at heart!
I said member
Welcome, new HCCC members! Betcha thought I'd forgotten about you, eh?
I see Golddustin offered those Indians here- good for him! That reminded me to resurrect this thread.
Those of you who want the freebies offered (while supplies last), please PM me your mailing addresses. And be patient with me. It might be a while before I ship 'em, but I won't forget you.
Also, if there are any particular specializations you wish to pursue in your Holey Coin quests, let me know. (Obviously, if you choose to specialize in holed Bust dollars, I can't help you. I still need one for my vest.)
Here are just a few ideas...
Large cent date set, 1800-57; 1804 optional. Holed large cents are plentiful. I'm four coins away from finishing this set.Capped Bust half date set, 1807-1836; 1815 optional. Or 1807-1839 with the Reeded Edge coins. Or 1801-1839, if you wanted to do the Draped Bust Heraldic Eagle halves along with the Capped Bust ones. The halves are my new pursuit. It'll be challenging, but impressive when it's done. (Even if I never get the 1815).Gold. Works well as jewelry (or in my case, on a hat), and is always in demand, even holed. Sometimes these can be bought at melt.Love tokens. Many love tokens were holed. The engraving on them is very individual and often quite artistic. Always popular. I think it would be really neat to see somebody trying for a date set of love token Seated Liberty dimes (the Legend obverse type made after 1860.) These are by far the most common love tokens, with the 1880's seeming to be the height of love token creation. These could get addictive- I might go for them, one day. Counterstamps. A lot of holed coins are also counterstamped, and the countermarks can be quite interesting. They run the gamut from advertising to obscenity.Type set. Always wanted to collect a type set of nice classic coins but couldn't afford to? Well, if you collect holeys, some of the ones you couldn't normally touch might be within your reach. It'll still be challenging, though- the tough stuff is costly even with a hole in it. But with a type set you can set your own parameters. I've got a mostly-complete basic 19th century type set on the front of my Holey Coin Vest. Silver dollars. Morgan and even Peace dollars can be found holed, and often bought for a song. A display of these pinned to a cork board or arranged in a shadow box would be handsome.Indian cents. At least one person did this before, but he did it back in the days when they circulated. (Somebody had this set up for sale on eBay- the coins were nailed to an old piece of wood that looked like it came out of a barn. As I recall, the 1877 was there, too.)Make up your own theme. It's all about fun. Let your hair down a bit and use your holey collection to loosen up when you need a break from your "serious" collecting. You may even find yourself having more fun with your whimsical holey collection than you do with your "serious" collection.
-YN Currently Collecting & Researching Colonial World Coins, Especially Spanish Coins, With a Great Interest in WWII Militaria.
My Ebay!
WNC Coins, LLC
1987-C Hendersonville Road
Asheville, NC 28803
wnccoins.com
<< <i>i have read/heard several places about how small coins (3-cents, half-dimes) would be used for buttons ca. civil war era. i would absolutely LOVE to see a vintage uniform/whatever w/ such coins used in this manner. not a modern concoction, but the real deal.
K S >>
Hey Karl, I've heard the same, and I also have a Large Cent that was "Button-Holed" as LordMarcovan described it... I gots pictures somewhere.........
42/92
As to the uniforms and button thing, I had a nice Draped Bust cent with two rectangular holes in the middle, obviously made with old "square" nails, and obviously to make the coin into a button. (It had to have been a contemporary job, since big flat buttons on men's coats went out of fashion by the 1830's or so). I seem to recall it being an 1805- I should've kept it because I need that date for the date set of large cents on the back of my vest, but I swapped it away since none of the others on the back were holed that way.
I've also dug quite a few early coins with holes, but I keep them in my detector find album rather than on the vest.
Here's one on the vest that was found by a detecting friend of mine near St. Augustine, FL. It's a 4-reales piece.
Oh, yeah- I forgot- it's in the picture above. I gotta redo that picture. I've upgraded the Draped Bust half and added a lot of better pieces since that was made.
My best so far is a 1776 2 Reales. Gotta love the year.
thanks.
While we're on the subject, do you still want the three Bust Halves I have?
GR
This largely-ignored thread includes two of my latest Draped Bust holey upgrades.
was more than I wanted to pay at the time, I kind of regret it now with all this bandwagon talk.
Edited out my lowbrow humor
<< <i>will this club educate people about coins that were not holed natural but are (artificial) or A-hole coins? >>
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