Wednesday, June 26, 2013

A Cursed Nickel?

Today I saw a very cool Reddit post, titled "got this as change tonight am I cursed?" It featured a curious looking nickel which at first glace looks like and Indian head nickel. When you look closer the face is a skull  instead of Indian head or the more common Thomas Jefferson. Check it out below.


   This completely blew my mind so I did some quick "google-izeing" and found out quite a bit about this nickel.  The very first thing I should get out of the way is that this nickel seems to be worth close to $400 to a collector. So is this person cursed? No. Lucky as all hell to find a nickel worth $400? Yes! 
  There is also a huge community around these amazing reliefs, full of artisans, collectors, history and culture. These carvings are extremely rich and diverse with roots going all the way back the 1750's. I also saw a few articles siting influence of Greek antiquity and secret society membership tokens. The object in question is commonly known as the Hobo Nickel, more specifically the "skull Indian and buffalo carcass" Hobo Nickel. Here are a few examples I thought were interesting.









Pretty cool right? :) 

http://www.hobonickels.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobo_nickel

https://www.google.com/search?q=hobo+nickel&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=wunKUc_3G8PC4APGt4CoCA&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1771&bih=892



Tuesday, June 25, 2013

How many jellybeans do you have left?

Zefrank posted a very moving video about jellybeans and how they relate to your life...