A Good View of my Blacksmith Token Wood 29 (sawed it out of a box)

ambro51

Just impossible to appreciate this piece on the misidentified NGC fang box so it had a date with my bandsaw. NOW we see the uniqueness and bizarre nature of this rare Canadian Blacksmith Copper. The coin in many forms is the union of two discarded HTT dies presumably by an unknown Blacksmith in the Toronto area circa 1835-40. Obviously hand struck this piece has both strong detail and unstuck planchet surface. As with several related crude Blacksmith coppers, the flan has a strong cupping to one side due probably to a worn homemade planchet cutter. On some Wood 23s this cupping is pressed back onto the coin but here the uneven strike leaves it standing proud. The astonishing thing is the exceptionally light weight of 48 grains. This, with a diameter of 26mm makes for a paper thin coin indeed. To realize the frailty of the raised cup along with the smooth surfaces indicate little actual wear. Comparing this coin to the very similar piece in the Warren Baker sale and the holed example in the Oppenheim collection put it high on the short list of about 15 known thin planchet pieces. Not that the heavier pieces are much more common having a population of about 50. The use of the Low 271 and Low 284 dies make this a coin the HTT collectors are interested in also. .

MICHAELDIXON

Interesting piece! I can appreciate it!

BustHalfBrian

Very cool! Thanks for sharing

ricko

Thanks for the history.... neat piece...Cheers, RickO

ambro51

All of these thin flan pieces have an identical cross cross orientation to the dies, while all thicker planchet coins are coin turn. On the 2nd image you can see a near incuse "drawing" of the metal into the high points of the obverse. It has caused a stretching of the letters. I would love to have been present, a fly on the wall so to speak, and watched its creation...understanding the man behind it, it's era, the tale of its remaining fairly untouched as a collectors piece, probably misunderstood......Questions without answers are the burning fires that go on and on

CaptHenway

<< <i>All of these thin flan pieces have an identical cross cross orientation to the dies, while all thicker planchet coins are coin turn. On the 2nd image you can see a near incuse "drawing" of the metal into the high points of the obverse. It has caused a stretching of the letters. I would love to have been present, a fly on the wall so to speak, and watched its creation...understanding the man behind it, it's era, the tale of its remaining fairly untouched as a collectors piece, probably misunderstood......Questions without answers are the burning fires that go on and on >>



Neat piece!

That "drawing" of the metal in the center of the lower picture (let's call it the reverse) looks a bit too detailed to have transferred through the planchet. Could it possibly be that the piece was first struck as a brockage, with an indent of the device from the "obverse," and then restruck over the brockage? I don't see any doubling on the "obverse," so for this to have happened the piece would have to have been reset in that die, which would make it the lower die in the press.

CaptHenway

?

ambro51

No I don't think any double striking occurred