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 Replies: 16 / Views: 3,903 |
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Valued Member
United States
58 Posts |
I found this paperweight cleaning out the house today. Forgot I had it. I remember this from childhood and never though much about it until now. Its my oldest coin and looks like a collectors item from the Joseph Horne department store in Pittsburgh. Long been out of business, but I though it was neat as a kid. I think it was a cheap collector item made by the company back in the day. Its in solid acrylic with a 1849-1949 plate encased(how long the company was in business for) Dont think its worth anything, but it now is my oldest coin and I didnt even have to buy an Airtite!   
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Valued Member
 United States
58 Posts |
I would think it looks like G, maybe VG for a grade. Being encased in a solid acrylic brick, it actually retained a very decent luster.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4846 Posts |
Unfortunately its looks like it's been polished, which will really hurt it's collectible value, but it's still a nice conversation piece!
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Valued Member
United States
58 Posts |
Yea, reading here on this website, which Ive learned a lot, it looks like even back in the day it was cleaned/scrubbed pretty good before being encased.
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Rest in Peace
United States
17900 Posts |
The value of the promotional aspect of the sealed coin is worth more than the very low numismatic value.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
Interesting find, thanks for sharing it with us!
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Valued Member
United States
58 Posts |
Thanks Coinfrog. I appreciate all the feedback being a newbie here.
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Valued Member
United States
58 Posts |
Also the this plate I think is also copper, but heavily burnished/worn.
I have no idea of the history behind this or how many were made/still exist.
The item is 4 by 4 inches wide/length and about 1.5 inches think. Solid acrylic(not glass)
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
12477 Posts |
 with moxking. The piece is most likely worth more as it is than the coin would be alone. Nice, and thanks for sharing!  In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020
In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020
In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024
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Valued Member
United States
58 Posts |
Thanks!
I dont even have a clue on how much a cleaned 1849 cent is worth.
But this isn't a slab
It looks like it was literally baked into a acrylic brick. It may not have even been done in 1949, perhaps later.
A bit of history, back in the earlier part of Pittsburgh's history, Hornes was the "upscale" place to shop if you had money
Kaufmann's was the "middle class" to go departments store
Gimbels was the "working class" store. All were located in downtown Pittsburgh and all out of business now.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12477 Posts |
I did a quick ebay search for "Joseph Horne" and many items can be found, but of course, being a department store means that the items range greatly in type. The only thing I found in the numismatic area were a couple listings for store cards (tokens). I can't say anything about when what you have was made. It seems like a '50s thing to do, though.  In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020
In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020
In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024
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Moderator
 United States
188213 Posts |
Very interesting! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1554 Posts |
Edited by Kushanshah
07/08/2018 12:45 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
838 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
 Lots of those promotional items out there. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
838 Posts |
That's nicer than those Requlation Q toasters!
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Replies: 16 / Views: 3,903 |
Posted 07/06/2018 6:47 pm
