"Daddy" Comes Home
By Ralph Winter, HLM37

In the spring 2011 issue of BoTales (Vol. 20, Issue 1),I shared that in December of 2010 I had bid on and won an unusuallot in a mail bid sale. The catalog had a so-so photo of the itemdescribed as, "Unusual original carved likeness of a shortenedprofile man in a round top derby with bow & band, modifiedear, hair and features as well as collar and lapel. All fieldsnicely smoothed and entire coin has been gilt or goldplated."

When I received the coin, I immediately determined that it wasnot a hobo nickel but was a cast fake of a hobo nickel. Iinitially was a little upset that I had paid so much for a "goldplated" cast fake. I was ready to return it to the auction houseand get my money back.

I showed this golden fake to friend and OHNS member ArtDelFavero. He immediately noticed how heavy it was, most unusualfor fakes of this kind. I was really surprised when I had itweighed and the gold tested. My cast fake weighed 7.1 grams andwas solid 22ct gold. The gold content alone was worth the price Ipaid in the mail bid auction. I brought my fake hobo with me tothe 2011 FUN Convention and showed it to my fellow OHNSmembers.

In March or April of this year, OHNS member Chris Dempseybought ten hobo nickels from a pocket coin dealer and collectorof hobo nickels who lives in California.

One day Chris was looking through some old BoTalesissues when he saw my original article. He said, "I own thenickel from which the fake was cast." It was one of the ten hehad bought. At some point after that, Chris made me aware he hadacquired the "Daddy" to my golden cast fake.

Over the years I have collected several counterfeit or castfake hobo nickels. Occasionally one shows up in our annualauction. I like showing them when I give talks or to newcollectors to see how they differ from a genuine hobo nickels. Ithad always been my hope that I might someday fine the "parent" ofone of my cast fakes.

Last month I was finally able to talk Chris into selling methe "parent" of my solid gold cast fake. I really do appreciatehim doing so. Here it is pictured below. The gold fake ispictured left.

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