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5 Cents "Buffalo" - Pilot Hobo

Issuer United States
Year
Type Fantasy coin
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Edge Reeded
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Additional information

Hobo nickels carved from Buffalo nickels occupy a genuinely ambiguous corner of numismatics — altered coins that most major grading services now recognize as a distinct collecting category. The "Pilot" designation refers to a specific recurring subject among hobo carvers: a figure wearing an aviator's helmet, distinct from the more common tramp or clown transformations. The deep relief of James Earle Fraser's original bison-side design gave carvers unusual working depth on the reverse, which many used for secondary carvings or signature marks.

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