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 Replies: 34 / Views: 11,879 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1388 Posts |
I'm usually a purist, but that is some amazing work that came from a LOT of skill...  |
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Pillar of the Community
France
1591 Posts |
Wow, superb find, it's a beautiful piece of craftsmanship !
And the coin is even looking great :)
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New Member
United Kingdom
3 Posts |
Do you know how much these coins are valued at?
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5362 Posts |
Typically I value these coins at about $100 each but some are worth a lot more - it depends on workmanship.
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New Member
United Kingdom
4 Posts |
I have one of these that my Grandad left me in 1987 and which I dragged out of the box. Originally I thought it was a locket but figured without a clasp that was unlikely - thanks for the extra info. Great craftsmanship and you can see the tooling marks and the centre line marked for the hinge. https://www.dropbox.com/s/4oij82b79...ins.jpg?dl=0 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
SteveJonesy  The first of the hollow coins I ever saw was a screw top 1797 Copper Two pence. Since then I have seen hundreds and I still own a dozen or so. They are very interesting. Looks like your 5 Centimes may have been made by the same craftsman that made mine.
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New Member
United Kingdom
4 Posts |
Thanks swamperbob ;-)
Mines a 10 centimes the same as yours and certainly look like they were done by the same workshop if not the same craftsman. Very cool ;-)
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Pillar of the Community
3772 Posts |
Interesting stuff, thanks for sharing 'swamperbob'.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1319 Posts |
I have one of those - it opens up to reveal a photo of Queen Victoria. No idea if it's original or a later production.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
andyg Does your copy have traces of a suspension loop on the top - looks like there is something there.
These could easily be a form of trench art if they were done crudely - these are too nice and are machined. They may be early mechanical imitations of that art form that were made for the collectors market of WWI collectables say in the 1920's. But since trench art dates back to the mid 1800s they may have been made for a war earlier than WWI. They may even be a form from the Sudan era since the same coins are used.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1319 Posts |
no loop - it's a mark on the table where I took the dodgy photograph :)
I say photo of Queen Victoria - but it's not, it's an embossed card picture.
Edited by andyg
12/15/2014 1:35 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
Good - I have not seen a suspended version. A man's pocket piece makes much more sense especially for trench type art. A memento from home for a soldier off doing his duty.
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New Member
United Kingdom
4 Posts |
Nice Andy. They obviously lend themselves to that, and a lot of them were probably used for that, but I suspect it wasn't the original purpose as the best part of 2g has been milled from the coin in total and the inside and underside of the lid have been milled out using smaller and smaller bits to create a concave surface so the actual hollow is relatively deep and overkill for a picture.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
When this was done with silver coins (very popular with 8 Reales) the purpose was silver theft and the metal removed 2/3rds of the weight paid for the labor. Bronze however even in the 1860s was not all that valuable enough to recover much more than to pay for the work needed to extract the bronze.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3343 Posts |
"Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire
Edited by thq
12/16/2014 08:21 am
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Replies: 34 / Views: 11,879 |
First Page
Posted 03/11/2011 5:28 pm
