Mad Money

by Fred Larucci

Original - Not For Sale

Price

Not Specified

Dimensions

9.000 x 12.000 inches

Title

Mad Money

Artist

Fred Larucci

Medium

Drawing - Graphite Pencils - 96lb. Canson Thick Sheet Stock Board Paper

Description

(2016) Mad Money - �Hobo Skull Quarter� - Graphite Illustration No.108 - Drawn in Graphite on 96lb. Canson Thick Board Sheet Stock Paper - Pencils Used: 4H, 2H, H, HB, 2B, 4B, 5B - Drawing time: 89 Hours. Enhanced Digitally using Zoner.

This is the first �Hobo� coin in my coin series and the 20th coin overall. Original Coin Design by Master Engraver Shaun Hughe�s (United Kingdom) who granted permission to Illustrate this piece.

The Hobo nickel is a sculptural art form involving the creative modification of small-denomination coins, essentially resulting in miniature bas reliefs. The US nickel coin was favored because of it�s size, thickness and relative softness. However, the term hobo nickel is generic, as carvings have been made from many different denominations. Due to its low cost and portability, this medium was particularly popular among hobos, hence the name.

The altering of coins dates to the 18th century or earlier. Beginning in the 1850s, the most common form of coin alteration was the �potty coin�, engraved on United States Seated Liberty coinage (half dime through trade dollar) and modifying Liberty into a figure sitting on a chamber pot. This time period was also the heyday of the love token, which was made by machine-smoothing a coin (usually silver) on one or both sides, then engraving it with initials, monograms, names, scenes, etc., often with an ornate border. Hundreds of thousands of coins were altered in this manner. They were often mounted on pins or incorporated into bracelets and necklaces. The love token fad faded out in the early 20th century; love tokens engraved on buffalo nickels are rate. During this time period, hobo-style coin alterations could be found outside the United States, primarily in Britain, France and South Africa.

Many artists made hobo nickels in the 1910s and 1920s, with new artists joining in as the years went by. The 1930s saw many talented artists adopting the medium. Bertram Wiegand, known almost exclusively as Bert, began carving nickels in the teens, and his student George Washington Hughes, known as Bo, began carving in the late teens (and up to 1980). During this period, Buffalo nickels were the most common nickels in circulation.

Uploaded

February 12th, 2016

Statistics

Viewed 11,329 Times  -  Last Visitor from Fairfield, CT on 04/17/2024 at 12:52 AM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags