CLAD COIN CAMEO CARVINGS

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V17 2014 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 17, Number 24, June 8, 2014, Article 22

The Summer 2014 issue of Bo Tales, the official publication of the Original Hobo Nickel Society has a nice article by Carol Bastable on a recent trend in the world of coin carving. Editor Ralph Winter kindly forwarded a copy so I could publish this short excerpt here. One advantage of our Internet format is that color images cost no more than black and white, so readers here will see the full effect of the technique. -Editor

Hobo nickel watchers may have noticed a new trend happening this last year. The much loved traditional buffalo nickel host coin has a new rival, clad coinage. Ron Landis began making what he called "cameo" carvings possibly as early as 1982. He used to carve away the background on dimes, revealing the copper core while leaving the existing portrait untouched. Then for fun he put them into circulation. Just ponder how many error collectors down the road thought they really had something.

His first real Clad Cameo Carving (CCC) was the Sacagawea dollar just after the newly released coin hit circulation. It had a traditional hobo portrait in the manganese/brass alloy with copper fields revealed. Later a few other carvers like Joe Paonessa (in 2005), Bill Jameson (2008), Dave Jones (2008) and Adam Leech (2009) also made these CCC coins.

Then at the 2013 FUN show, Landis brought with him a newly carved South Dakota state quarter of Mount Rushmore. The fields had deep engraving revealing a copper core for contrast and the faces on Mt. Rushmore were re-engraved. The bird in flight was removed from the sky and replaced with a banner which read “MOUNT NEEDMORE”. It was not seen by many because it was snapped up into a private collection fairly early in the show.

The next appearance of clad was by Paolo “Mrthe” Curcio. He regularly posts his carvings on the OHNS Facebook page and also lists many on eBay so his coins reach a large audience. His Clad Cameo Carvings went one step further with ornately engraved designs in the newly revealed copper fields. His designs consist of skulls, big-head mini-men, Frankenstein, and a traditional style hobo portrait with derby hat.

Oddly enough, Curcio came up with his designs by accident and had not seen the few earlier examples by other artists. He started carving what he believed to be a silver half dollar and got a shocking surprise when he hit copper at the center. One can only imagine the expletives that he was thinking or came out of his mouth. After the initial shock, in his words he “started playing with it.” He found he had a lot of fun with it and the result was a lot more Clad Cameo Carvings.

The story brought back memories for me of a similar technique I was taught in preschool. I think we called it "black magic". We made designs in random color on a piece of paper, then colored over the whole thing with a black crayon. Then, using some implement we scraped away portions of the black surface to reveal the colors below to make our pictures. Hadn't thought of that in << cough >> decades... -Editor

For more information on the Original Hobo Nickel Society, see: www.hobonickels.org

Wayne Homren, Editor