Introducing Chisely Adams

By Barry Homrighaus RM1548, Anthony Fanger LM1210

A few months ago, after seeing a posting on the OHNS Facebook site, I blundered my way onto Instagram and found a site with lots of great hobo nickel and love token photos—Fanger Numismatics. I sent a message to the site, and before long was connected with another hobo nickel enthusiast, OHNS Life Member, Anthony Fanger.

We swapped images of some of the coins in our collections, and quickly discovered that we had a match. The first two coins (#1 & #2) below are in Anthony’s collection, and #3 is one I acquired in a 2021 auction. The three coins grade Average to Average High, with both punching and simple engraving—probably chisel work—evident. Not the most sophisticated carvings, perhaps, but sharing a distinctive style.

The most notable characteristic of these carvings is the beard, which in two of the three carvings actually appears to extend beyond the limits of the coin, as if the artist couldn’t show the whole beard because the canvas was too small. We already have a lot of carver nicknames that reference the beard—from Beady and Bushy to Van Bogh and Van Dyke, so we needed to get creative on this one.

It was Anthony who suggested we use a nickname that refers both to an iconic American character who also sported a magnificent beard, as well as to the carving tool used by so many hobo artists.

John Boyden “Grizzly” Adams, shown in the photo above, was born in New England, traveled to California in the Gold Rush, captured, tamed and wrestled with grizzly bears, and performed in New York with P. T. Barnum just prior to his death in 1860. He was later played by Dan Haggerty on the 1970’s television series, “The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams.”

Our hobo character shares “Grizzly’s” stern gaze and great beard, and was almost certainly crafted in part with the nickel carver’s trusty chisel; hence, “Chisely Adams.”

Carvings by “Chisely Adams” display the following characteristics:

1. Derby hats with low to medium crowns, narrow hatbands, and small, centered bows above the ear.
2. Hat brim is a long, single engraved line that stretches nearly from rim to rim, bisecting LIBERTY at the "E."
3. Simple, medium sized ear formed of two "C's."
4. Hair and bushy beard punched with short curving lines, extending down to touch lapel and outward to rim.
5. Profile modified with added eyebrow and deep cut at top of nose, creating a "hatchet-faced" appearance.
6. Simple high collar and lapel, outlined with single cut lines.
7. Two of three examples on 1913 Type I host coins.