5 Cents "Buffalo" - Pirate Hobo

Hobo nickels are the product of itinerant carvers — largely hobos, as the name suggests — who reworked Buffalo nickels during the 1920s and 1930s using nothing more than a nail or small chisel. The soft relief of the original design made the coins unusually cooperative for hand engraving. This particular "Pirate" subtype, with its added hat and eye patch, is among the most recognized hobo nickel archetypes, though modern carvers have produced substantial quantities since the 1970s, making period attribution a genuine challenge for collectors.