Hobo Nickel Whats It Worth?

Looks like a Hobo nickel. I am NOT an expert on these, but the story goes that hobos would carve these during the depression and trade them for a meal. I know some of them made by more famous artists are worth over $500, but I wouldn't know where to find a reference for them. Quite a find in change.

Can you restore dates to Hobo nickels? Since that has a D mint mark, you never know, could be a 1913 D Type 2!

Pretty cool find, better than finding just a normal Buffalo nickel.

I read in Coin World I think it was,that one recently sold for 9000.00 but it was by a famous artist by the name of Bert. He signed his work by eliminating the LI and Y in Liberty to leave just his name. Pretty neat. I have seen some at local shows that were priced in the 60.00 range.

Metalhead19010:

Go to this Yahoo site & ask MIckey a question, he is an expert in this Hobo nickels Field. It is a very active Yahoo Hobo group. I have about a dozen Hobo nickels all craved by Mickey.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The_H...oup/messages

Have fun,
Ron (ronaldb112)

Those nickels are really cool!
hope to add one to my collection someday.

LOL. This is so weird. I recently went to my dads' house in MD and he used to work at a gas station in PA. He gave me alot of coins and one caught my eye. It was a hobo nickel (as I now know the name), picturing a spanish-type guy with a "cigar" sticking out of his mouth. It was done on a Buffalo nickel. The "ERTY" is still visible. I thought it was junk (maybe still is) and to my surprise, you guys have a thread on them! I will try to get pics uploaded on it asap and hope for help telling me more on it.

Wow!
~Mike~

EDIT: Added pics

Hi Cheungsta,

It's good that you want to add some hobo nickels to your collection, just be very very careful with what you are buying. When it comes to buying old nickels it's important to understand that many dealers sell nickels as originals when they really aren't. Because hobo nickels are such a blind item to collectors it's a great source of many people buying what they think is an old nickel when in actuality the nickel was carved within the last few months.
One story that I have studied for the last 6 years is that of The Hobo Nickel Book and the story of Bert and Bo... I can assure all of you with a great deal of certianty that there is no evidence that there were ever two hobo's named Bert and Bo and in all likelyhood the whole thing was an amazing fraud to coin collecting and netted the person that sold the nickels a small fortune by selling them as genuine nickels. So be careful out there and don't be in a hurry to shell out big dollars just because some dealer tells you an "original" hobo nickel he's selling came from a collection that has been locked away for years in someone's attic so the nickel must be real. Also as a carver for a long time I can also assure you all that when the experts tell you they can tell an old nickel from a modern one...they are guessing at best and while I have never sold one of my nickels as anything other than a nickel I carved, I have carved nickels to look like the old originals that have fooled the experts. Right after they swear up and down that the nickel is an original I look at them and tell them that I carved the nickel...they never admit to getting fooled...so again be careful out there ...this is a fun collectible and I want you all to enjoy it and be safe when you buy. That was the purpose of starting my yahoo group, you're welcome to come and join and learn.