BEWARE OF HOBO NICKEL COPIES

Left: Paolo Curcio Original. Right: Fake

As hobo nickels gain in popularity, so too is some threat of unscrupulous people selling knockoffs. That very thing happened in the last months of 2016. A few “hobo nickels” coming out of China hit the market and they were direct copies of carvings made by some talented artists. I first recognized a design that Paolo Curcio had done on an off center penny. I emailed a few OHNS board members to alert them and then I posted listings from two separate sellers on our Facebook page. I was hoping that any of the bidders on the copies would be able to retract bids, or stop bidding further, or complain to eBay. Enough complaints were filed that the listings were ended but then the items were relisted. I have watched one of the sellers and there has not been any recent activity from that seller but there are new sellers now too.

The first listings were misleading and did not state that they were cast or struck copies. Also, images were pirated without permission from the artists. Recently I noticed more of these same copies being sold from a St. Louis, MO address. They are under a different account than the ones from China. In the title of these newer listings, there is no notation of them being copies or token issues but if one were to read down to the description part, it does describe that they are pressed coins. This is a perfect example of why it is important to read an entire listing before clicking on the bid button.

Besides making sure a copy is clearly identified in a listing, it is best that artists making their own copies should also mark the coins as such. I bought a copy of Aleksey’s 25 th anniversary Morgan dollar carving and noticed that he clearly marked copy in fairly large type on one side of the coin. Ron Landis also marked U.S. and ancient coin copies when he ran the Gallery Mint. A copy mark on the edge of a coin is not recommended as it can be smoothed off by a person later on down the road.

There is also a seller on eBay making epoxy resin hobo nickel copies and mounting them in bezels made from coins. The seller has obtained artist permission and does list them in the description as copies. Just remember it is always important to read the fine print in the listings because looking only at the photos can be misleading. The title does not sum everything up either, so always read the descriptions.

Carol adds:

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

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web