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Hobo nickel is the most common term for the art of carving coins, giving them a new life. In this art, Roman Booteen from Russia is a master.
He works mainly with old coins which are made of several layers of metal - and he takes advantage of it when creating his images and textures.
More info: Instagram
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mewmew34 8 years ago
I love the subject, but I really don't like the idea of them defacing coins. Even old and worn out, they would have value to collectors.
Amanda Hodgman 8 years ago
And now they have (a probably much greater) value to a different type of collectors.
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sexy_scorpio_3MD 8 years ago
I love Alice in Wonderland! Super creative! Great job! Love the detai!
Charles Laster 8 years ago
We HAVE gone through the looking glass, you know. And that rabbit hole goes way, way down!
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Taryn Wallace 8 years ago
If they are his coins and he wants to carve them instead of keeping them for a collection isn't that ultimately his choice.... also if he's selling them and you don't like them.....don't buy them
mewmew34 8 years ago
Except they technically don't belong to him. They are property of the US government, and defacing currency is generally against the law.
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TJ Hallman 8 years ago
You can alter money however you like as long as it's not to make a lower currency look like a higher one... his art is perfectly legal.
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Charles Laster 8 years ago
They all look like Trump! I'm a little obsessed with that road of a president.
Ben Smith 8 years ago
There were over 86 million silver dollars minted in 1921. Basically the United States subsidized the silver mining industry...look up The Pittman Act. Many of those sat in bank vaults for more than 40 years. Nothing rare about them.
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mewmew34 8 years ago
Oh man, this one is unimaginably painful. Did this guy really destroy a coin that old?
Max Yost 8 years ago
He didn't destroy it, he made it into a beautiful piece of art.
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MugshotJack 8 years ago
What the american settlers did to the Native Americans was disrespectful
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Anita Marx 8 years ago
That's really amazing. It looks like a picture of Hieronymus Bosch. It's some kind of creepy, but you can't take your eyes off of it.
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Sally Hughes 4 years ago
Are these worth anything? I randomly received one of these in the post!
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Pat Wooster 8 years ago
I would love to have this one! The Mad Tea Party, my favorite part of the story!
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Anita Marx 8 years ago
There is an old german legend: In the "Walpurgisnacht", when April ends and May begins, all the witches fly to the "Brocken". There is the devil, waiting for them, they dance around (some sexual activity can't be miss ;) . To end this horror, the people in the villages turn up great fires to burn all the witches who could try to steal the maiden to make them witches too. Nowadays it's a big festival, crazy, scary, funny and because we're Germans, lots of beer.
Anita Marx 8 years ago
And sorry for my horrible skills of English language.
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mewmew34 8 years ago
Seriously dude, stop destroying old rare coins! I'd kill to have a coin that old in it's proper state. Find something else to carve your art into, please!
Ben Smith 8 years ago
Youd kill for a coin worth less than $50? That sick dude.
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Emily Goddard 8 years ago
Me too!! Wish I could get one with my pup on it!!
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Juanita Blaz 1 year ago
The Souther Oracle...... To the winch, wench.... Never-ending Story. Love It! I'm from Guam
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Signe Manat Hansen 8 years ago
That must be the first fan art ever made for Neverending Story 3
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Juanita Blaz 1 year ago
Goonies.... I shares this movie with my children and now my grandchildren
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What do you think ?
John L 8 years ago
Hey, this is all neat and cool, and personally I think they are very wonderfully done. All are pieces of art. But I'm puzzled. This is done by a Russian, yet I don't see any Russian coins being used. I wonder why he doesn't do that? Could he wind up being arrested for defacing Russian property? :o
Abby Rexroth 8 years ago
Any American after the mid-sixties is sandwiched so the ones before are solid silver (except pennies). Who knows what Russian coins were/are made of.
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Kerry Pye 8 years ago
Ignore the negativity people are posting. They are your coins, which you paid for, so you have the right to do with them as you wish. You do AMAZING work, and anyone who would be lucky enough to own one, would have an amazing one off piece of work. Keep doing what you do, and ignore the rest.
Melody Lanzatella 8 years ago
There is nothing I love more than re-purposing old items! This is such a beautiful idea!
mewmew34 8 years ago
Re-purpose something besides rare old coins. I would kill to have some of these coins in their unaltered state. Coins from the 1800s? Can you imagine how much some of those would cost? And then he has destroyed their true value by carving them up. It's heartbreaking.
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Pat Wooster 8 years ago
Thank you for clearing that up Ben Smith. Somebody who knows what they are talking about!
Susan Forbes 8 years ago
These are incredibly skillfully done and truly works of art. Some are also a rather disconcerting and make quite the statement
Chris Taylor 8 years ago
stop being a whiner about "rare coins" most of these look to be Kennedy and maybe Franklin Halves, and it appears to be some Indian Head nickels........not rare of expensive on the bottom end of the grading scale
John L 8 years ago
Hey, this is all neat and cool, and personally I think they are very wonderfully done. All are pieces of art. But I'm puzzled. This is done by a Russian, yet I don't see any Russian coins being used. I wonder why he doesn't do that? Could he wind up being arrested for defacing Russian property? :o
Abby Rexroth 8 years ago
Any American after the mid-sixties is sandwiched so the ones before are solid silver (except pennies). Who knows what Russian coins were/are made of.
Load More Replies... Kerry Pye 8 years ago
Ignore the negativity people are posting. They are your coins, which you paid for, so you have the right to do with them as you wish. You do AMAZING work, and anyone who would be lucky enough to own one, would have an amazing one off piece of work. Keep doing what you do, and ignore the rest.
Melody Lanzatella 8 years ago
There is nothing I love more than re-purposing old items! This is such a beautiful idea!
mewmew34 8 years ago
Re-purpose something besides rare old coins. I would kill to have some of these coins in their unaltered state. Coins from the 1800s? Can you imagine how much some of those would cost? And then he has destroyed their true value by carving them up. It's heartbreaking.
Load More Replies... Pat Wooster 8 years ago
Thank you for clearing that up Ben Smith. Somebody who knows what they are talking about!
Susan Forbes 8 years ago
These are incredibly skillfully done and truly works of art. Some are also a rather disconcerting and make quite the statement
Chris Taylor 8 years ago
stop being a whiner about "rare coins" most of these look to be Kennedy and maybe Franklin Halves, and it appears to be some Indian Head nickels........not rare of expensive on the bottom end of the grading scale
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