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 Replies: 24 / Views: 15,554 |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Yes Post Strike Damage. Quote:
Someone also mentioned that back in the time of minting the US used to mint coins for other countries and this may be a US coin in a foreign mould. The US mint didn't start striking coins for other countries until 1872 or 75 forget which. The first country we struck coins for was Venezuela. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1211 Posts |
It is called a whatsit. It is a curiosity and an interesting specimen. It is as it appears. Nothing more or less.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2130 Posts |
I have one very similar to this I bought out of a junk bin years ago. I probably gave 2-3 bucks for it then just because it looked cool. I will try to find it and post a picture of it soon.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2130 Posts |
Here is the one I have.   |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
Very interesting!  to the CCF! |
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Moderator
 United States
188560 Posts |
Very nice, Connor!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2130 Posts |
By the way Tian I forgot to mention that earlier! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4416 Posts |
Nineteenth century machinists were constantly plying and honing their skills. They belonged to a great many fraternal organizations, primarily Masonic orders, wherein they shared their skills and schooled one another. They were constantly experimenting in an effort to develop or improve a patent. Over the years, I've seen a number of four, eight and six-sided coins. I've yet to learn of any common purpose for these pieces. Here's one of my favorite machinist-made productions, a pie-crimper ... P.S. - Welcome to the CCF !   Edited by ExoGuy
08/15/2016 6:11 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8516 Posts |
Oregon coin geek.....*** GO BEAVS ! ! ! ***
Edited by 52Raymo
08/15/2016 6:52 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2130 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4416 Posts |
Cool item, Raymo! However, it might rust the crust!
Some cents were machined with a practical purpose in mind. I'm guessing that the OP's octagonal cent was either a demonstration piece or else whimsical.
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New Member
 United States
4 Posts |
 Thanks to all here for the warm welcome and feedback! Here is the backside pic per request. |
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New Member
United States
1 Posts |
I dug this one metal detecting. It's an 1847 Octagonal Large Cent out if the yard of an 1860 Underground Railroad home in Lancaster, Ohio. I have spent hundreds of hours online to uncover the origin and purpose of these coins. The only real lead I could find was a mention of them being referred to as a "Trust Token". They were presented to slaves heading north and were supposed to show the tokens to each homeowner. Like a password I guess because some southern slavers were sending their most trusted slaves up to uncover the underground railroad stations and they would burn them out! I've unfortunately been unable to verify this as of yet but I'm still looking.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4416 Posts |
Welcome to the CCF, Jack .... Quote:
The only real lead I could find was a mention of them being referred to as a "Trust Token". They were presented to slaves heading north and were supposed to show the tokens to each homeowner. Having long collected, researched and written about slavery-related exonumia, I have yet to see a scintilla of firsthand or even secondhand evidence that supports this allegation. Plausible, yes. Provable, not. IMHO, this alleged slavery, Civil War connection appears to be naught but a bogus marketing ploy. I have a coin that's similar to the one dug ....   Machinists often used coins to ply their skills and/or create something of use. Just prior to the Civil War, many large cents were "cut down" in size to create "copperhead badges" of sorts. Copperheads, as they were labeled, (note the snake metaphor) were folks who opposed the war. The cut down large cents made Liberty's head appear more prominent on the copper coin (note that the smaller, copper-nickel or white cents were then in use, too). Openly displaying these copperhead coins on lapels often led to fights and occasional riots among the citizenry. Consequently, many copperhead protesters took to carrying in pockets. It's impossible to say that these octagonal pieces were used by copperheads, but, given numerous news stories from that era, this possibility is far more plausible than the slavery yarn. For further reading on the copperhead badges, see .... https://www.google.com/search?q=%22...ome&ie=UTF-8 Edited by ExoGuy
06/21/2019 12:45 pm
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Moderator
United States
188560 Posts |
to the Community, JackKane42! |
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Posted 08/15/2016 3:24 pm
