Posted 3 years ago
Stevieb123
(11 items)
Any ideas! Have no clue what or why someone did this. I found it in a roll of pennies and I was short a penny! So I hope its something with some good history for me to put on the shelf!
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Stevieb123, Interesting.
At a casual glance, it looks like somebody used it for target practice, but on closer examination, the bulge on the obverse looks like it has masonic imagery.
Here are more:
https://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=98449
Good one keramikos! :^D I think you figured this one out! Bill :^)
I was thinking that stamping on it looked masonic, too. Keramikos' link would make it seem like that's a "thing" that gets done to coins, but I don't know *why* either, I don't think I've seen one like it before...?
billretirecoll, Thanks. :-)
I knew that I'd made a basic identification of what this was, but the question of how it was done still intrigued me.
This one looks like it was punched from the reverse side. The pictures are a bit fuzzy, so it's difficult to be certain, but it looks like there are no masonic images in the depression; the masonic imagery is only on the obverse side.
It's one of a variety of masonic coins:
https://coinquest.com/cq_data/cq_ro/graphics/penny_mason_stamp.jpg
*snip*
There are several different varieties of these coins-turned-tokens. Some have a dagger, some have a compass-and-square, some have an antique pistol, some have an obelisk or monument, others yet have a star like in the picture - there is also a variant where one side is only stamped with a written inscription. There are probably more varieties out there than those we have listed here.
Sometimes, the counter-stamp is raised instead of incuse, like in our secondary image, where it is also a lot smaller, and only has a design on one side of the coin.
*snip*
https://coinquest.com/cgi-bin/cq/coins.pl?coin=14432
I was hoping to find a video of one of these being made, but no joy. I did find a video that shows the basics of coin punching using a punch set:
Coin Punching Secrets HOLD STILL!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkSoi2oV9-A
AnythingObscure, As to why anybody might do this:
*snip*
Belonged to my maternal grandfather, Otis L. Baggett of Bay Minette, Alabama. A Mason would sometimes carry a penny with this stamp that was dated the year he became a Mason, his birth year, or an important year for his lodge. Sometimes the coin was picked at random. I'm not sure what year he was made a Mason, but I suspect it was long before 1975.
*snip*
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1975_Lincoln_penny_Masonic_obverse.jpeg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1975_Lincoln_penny_Masonic_reverse.jpeg
There's a ton of pictures and information out there in the Internet about these masonic coins. They're collectible, but not rare or valuable.