Making Hobo Nickels - Page 2 - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 21 / Views: 15,293	Page: of 2

Kopper Ken Pillar of the Community United States 3402 Posts	Posted 08/30/2011 11:13 pm You might want to check out this site for engraving tools: http://www.grstools.com/ KK Report this Post to the Staff
joe316 New Member 32 Posts	Posted 09/12/2011 7:08 pm Most of those old hobo nickels were done by people that had mental problems that caused them to be overly precise and perfectionists. This was back during the depression before there was any medicine for these people. A normal person would never have the patience or attention to detail to make one as perfect as was done by those hobos. Report this Post to the Staff
specksynder Pillar of the Community United States 1080 Posts	Posted 09/12/2011 7:19 pm I think it's much more likely that the original hobo nickels were made by out-of-work engravers. There was MUCH more fine handiwork done back then (watch makers, jewelers, etc.), so these guys had the tools and expertise, but no work. Back to the original question, I've made several hobo nickels using a dremel and lots of patience. Pick up some dateless buffalos to practice on. Buffalos are softer nickel than modern nickels, so don't waste time practicing on a Jefferson. You'll need some sort of holder. Harbor Freight has a little clamp (do a google search for a Harbor Freight Universal Work Holder) that works well. Sketch your design with a fine Sharpie. For a quality hobo, you must remove the feathers behind the head and the hair braid from the neck -- don't just draw a hat and beard and be done. It's also important to add an ear. That's some quick tips. Be patient and have fun! I recently sold one on ebay for over $60! Report this Post to the Staff
Saruma Pillar of the Community United States 968 Posts	Posted 09/12/2011 10:04 pm Try it out on a modern Jefferson nickel first. Given the billions upon billions out there, I don't see any modern dates (short of an error) being worth anything in the future. Then if you are ready to do a Buffalo get a dateless or other problem one. Sure, I can appreciate the sentiment of never deface a coin, but dateless Buffs are nearly worthless. I'd be more concerned about the thousands if not millions of silver coins that have been melted down the last few years. Report this Post to the Staff
vanbroj Valued Member United States 450 Posts	Posted 09/12/2011 11:28 pm I dont like seeing coins destoyed : ( Report this Post to the Staff
delaner Pillar of the Community United States 870 Posts	Posted 09/13/2011 12:05 am Yeah, I'd say it's not likely we'll see a shortage of dateless buffs. Perhaps a hobo penny would be interesting, with zinc showing through the copper? I was noticing that in 2005, they minted nearly 8 billion cents. 8 thousand million. That's pretty astounding. In '36, they minted 118 million buffs, so find a nice low grade one and go for it. =) And post pics! Specks, can we see some of yours? I'd be crushed to see a 1798 dollar hobo'd, but it's hard to imagine a world where there is a significant shortage of 1936 Buffalo nickels. As for working on Jefferson's, I see that '38-'42's are the same composition as the buffs, so perhaps a '41 (200M+ minted) would make for a really cool art piece about WWII. You can get full rolls of them for under $10 on ebay... Report this Post to the Staff
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