Hobo Nickels ... Funny things you find while looking for Trygg carvings

[kaiserb]

I was searching the internet earlier today trying to find the values of some Trygg Carvings and I ran across this site:

http://www.grasshoppernet.com/walrafen/nice00.html

This enlightened me to the fact that there is such a thing as a "Hobo" Nickel. I was very impressed with the engraving work.

As a side note... the featured wood carvings on this site are Rick Ferry's

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I had seen a few old hobo nickels, wasn't aware people were still carving them! very interesting!

[R-OLDS]

Hobo Nickels, Yes I've seen and heard of them for years as I've collected coins since my teenage years, now in my mid 50s a friend of mine told me that Ebay has a few people selling them, I did a search a year or so ago and yes there were at least 12 or more for sale...
I'll have to check out the URL you mentioned.

randal

[Clifford_Parker]

Hobo nickels are another part of the "tramp art" that I learned about from my father. Some of the old stuff is VERY collectible and some new artists also do wonderful work.

The amazing part is that the "originals" were often done with nothing more than a penknife.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Yes but the old ones were silver, easier to work than these new slugs.....

[Clifford_Parker]

Actually, nickels were only made with silver from 1942-1945 and even then they were only 35% silver, 56%copper, and 9% manganese. Before and after the war they were/are 25% nickel and 75%copper.

Most of the "original" Hobo nickels were made during the Great Depression using pre-war nickels.

Another very cool "tramp art" was the making of rings from coins by spreading and thickening the edges by "hammering" them with the inside of a heavy tablespoon and then drilling out the center. My father made my mother's wedding ring from a silver quarter using this method.

[Irish]

Brain,

Thank You! That was a fantastic link. My good hubby is an avid coin collector. So this morning when I read your posting and went to the site I bookmarked it for him. Most of the time my bookmarks get an "oh ... that's nice." But your link really caught his attention. I think he spent nearly an hour going through the whole website, reading about the artists and history and then off to EBay to see what type of value they have.

You may have added a new dimension to his coin collection!

Susan

[Big_Al]

FYI; Just had my "lead" ww11 pennies appraised = valuve: 1 cent each. Big Al ( so much for coin collection)

[rick-in-seattle]

Brian,
The Hobo Nickle Society has sort of adopted my hobo carvings.
One of their members purchased three of my carvings along with an "Outhouse" I built for him. The carvings are used as a centerpiece for the Hobo Nickle display at shows.

[kaiserb]

Rick,

It is great your carvings got adopted. The Hobo Nickel people look like a great bunch of guys.