LOOSE CHANGE: NOVEMBER 15, 2020

CoinWeek Profiles Hobo Nickels

The hobo nickel is a sculptural art form involving the creative modification of small-denomination coins, essentially resulting in miniature bas reliefs. The nickel, because of its size, thickness, and relative softness, was a favored coin for this purpose. However, the term "hobo nickel" is generic, as carvings have been made from many different denominations.

Classic old hobo nickels (1913-1940)
Many talented coin engravers, as well as newcomers, started creating hobo nickels in 1913, when the buffalo nickel entered circulation. This accounts for the quality and variety of engraving styles found on carved 1913 nickels. More classic old hobo nickels were made from 1913-dated nickels than any other pre-1930s date.

To read the complete article, see:
Coin Profiles – Hobo Nickels (https://coinweek.com/coins/coin-profiles/coin-profiles-hobo-nickels/)

The Purse Made from a Book

THE PURSE IS PLENTY PRETTY on the outside: emerald silk, embroidered with dainty yellow, purple, and peachy-pink blooms, arcing out of metallic vases. But things get more interesting when one pries the lustrous little parcel open. Between the seams and under the stitches, there's something faded and faint, but unmistakable: a blue "Q" tucked between two stems, a stylized red "M" near one edge, rows and rows of tidy, brownish letters. In the belly of the bag, where one might expect just fabric, there is instead text-four parchment fragments, cut from a medieval manuscript.

Whoever made the bag, likely in Italy in the 17th century, started by deconstructing a volume and snipping the bifolia-the sheets of parchment that were folded to make the pages-into four tapered triangles. They stitched these together around the edges to form a little skeleton to build the rest of the bag around. The fragment is "an integral part of the purse itself," says Jay Moschella, curator of rare books at the Boston Public Library, who recently acquired the object from Bernard Quaritch Ltd., a London dealer. The bits of bifolia wouldn't otherwise be visible, but are here because the lining has gone missing. "It's the non-decorative insides you weren't meant to see," he adds. "It looks fascinating now, but when it was produced, you would have had no idea that there was a fragment inside of it."

To read the complete article, see:
How a Trashed Italian Manuscript Got Sewn Into a Sweet Silk Purse (https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/manuscript-fragments-purse-lining)

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