Large Cent exonumia. Any ideas what this could've been used for?

MWallace

I picked this up recently from a board member. There are 5 Large Cents held tightly together with two brass brads. A square hole is cut through four of them. The two cents that I can see a date on are both dated 1854. Any idea or suggestions of what this could've been used for?

DUIGUY

Possibly fused together to make a gear for an old crank record player. Never completed.

Justlooking

It looks like a knob to turn something ... perhaps a wrench to tighten a square nut in a tight place.

Shamika

I suspect it was the top of a walking cane.

fastfreddie

Knob? It's really a nice and I like it.

Broadstruck

<< <i>Any idea or suggestions of what this could've been used for? >>



A Five Cent Piece

amwldcoin

Might have been used to level an old table-chair or maybe there used to be 4 and they capped the legs.

CaptHenway

Magician's trick?

Variation on "The old shell game" or "Find the pea"?

Hiding place for something small but valuable? Any chance that one of the brads was longer and anchored/hinged a sixth coin that could swing back and forth over the hole?

Civil War spy coin to hide microfilm? Er, maybe not..........

MWallace

<< <i>A Five Cent Piece >>


LOL!!!!!




<< <i>Magician's trick? >>


That thought had actually crossed my mind too.




<< <i>Any chance that one of the brads was longer and anchored/hinged a sixth coin that could swing back and forth over the hole? >>


The coins are being held together tightly by the brads. Both brads are the same length.

magikbilly

The inner "One Cent" looks none the worse so I don't know about a cane top or table leg cap or whatever. While the materials used are not unusual, my guess is it had a "lid" at one time and held something valuable.

TwoSides2aCoin

I've worked with talented machinists, and am amazed at the ingenuity of tradesmen. I have no clue why the coins have been machiined out, then riveted together, but it looks to be created in the mind of a machinist or a tool guy who built a part for something useful and less costly than a dime (which the replacement part might have cost).
In those days, men used everything possible to save a penny. (five bad puns)
It wasn't done on a bench grinder and an organ grinder could have done it with a punch, a drill, a hammer, and anvil... and maybe some square nails. We were much more resourceful back in them days, as a people.

Here is a photo of an organ grinder. courtesy of historyimages.com

Food for thought. Thanks for sharing. There's my 2 cents worth.

Nowadays, we just fix it with superglue or duct tape.

windwhispersintrees

Seems far too crude for a machinist's work or for anyone with access to even basic tools.
If it was a decorative item (knob, cane top, etc.) why wouldn't they simply have brazed or soldered them together to avoid the ugly brads through the top surface?
A 100 years ago, wouldn't 5 cents seem like too much money to waste on something decorative that could be made with other materials?

Perhaps some utilitarian part that needed to be copper so it wouldn't rust or fall apart like wood? Perhaps a wheel on some sort of machinery--though not sure how it'd be held on other than by friction? Maybe a cap on some outdoor item?
Maybe it's a builders good luck token from a structure...instead of nailing one cent to the building frame, they thought five would be better?

Interesting mystery, but painful to see those big chopped holes!

Shamika

<< <i>The inner "One Cent" looks none the worse so I don't know about a cane top or table leg cap or whatever. >>


Good observation.




<< <i>Nowadays, we just fix it with superglue or duct tape. >>


More likely, we just toss it in the garbage and buy a new one.

savoyspecial

In response to windwhispersintrees comment about this being 'too much money to waste,' the Large Cent was demonitized before the Civil War and would sometimes be sold in bulk for scrap value

coindeuce

I concur with Justlooking. This looks like a crude tool made for torquing early, square head cap screws. Hexagonal cap screws didn't exist until well after WWI, except in some automotive/marine/aircraft applications.