An interesting cut-out coin (and a bonus altered coin)

Obverse

The original coin is a United Kingdom Edward VII Penny 1902 – 1910. Edward VII ruled from January 1901 when his mother, Queen Victoria, passed away, until his own death (at 68 years old) in 1910.

The piece has been carved quite carefully to cutout around the King’s portrait and leave a ring around the edge. The top of piece is worn and possibly had a “ring” added to hang the piece as a pendant. That is just speculation, as is anything to do with how or why this piece was altered the way it was. I picked this up as part of a lot with no information about where it came from. So the only thing I would add to that is – if you do have a piece like this which you KNOW the provenance of (who made it, when and why), please do document it for future generations!

Given the time this coin was issued, just before World War I, and that it appears to have been well circulated before being cut, some might call this “Trench Art“. Trench Art is an often misleading term applied to pieces, not unlike this, which probably took some time and patience to create, and which could have been done by soldiers in the trenches in the Great War, to kill time while waiting for battle. I thought it was worth mentioning, as there are many interesting “trench art” items around. I’m not going to make any claims about the piece I don’t have any proof for though. However it was done, and much as I don’t condone taking a knife to coins, it is an interesting piece.

Reverse

The reverse originally contained Britannia, not unlike the 1797 Cartwheel penny I have previously posted. There is nothing left of that original design now, either deliberately or through circulation. The coin was made as “Medal” orientation (the top of one side is the top of the other), so if the design was still visible, Britannia would be “right way up”.

The original coin

Given the size of the piece (~30mm diameter), and the uncrowned portrait of King Edward VII, I was fortunate to be able to narrow this down to single coin. Here is one of the same coins – unaltered – this one minted in the first year of issue, 1902:

Bonus art piece

Here is another piece, I was almost tempted to make the post about. I really like this one, and again, even without any text left, this one can be narrowed down. Even better, not only to a ruler and coin, but a coin issued only for one year. From the style of the image of the King on this side, and Britannia on the other, this is a 1799 George III 1/2 Penny, again from the United Kingdom. This was issued by the SOHO mint in Birmingham, just like the much larger 1797 Penny.

Unlike the original cutout coin on this post, the image of Britannia is worn, but still visible. The coin has been well worn through wear, and is shiny through having been cleaned, which gives it an almost iridescent look. All of the original text has been lost either through wear, or through the way the coin has had triangles cut all the way around.

I could not get the camera to focus on the edge of the coin itself, but here is the edge of the coin with the cuts alternating each side. It would have taken patience.

Have you got a coin which has been altered? Do please share it on Mastodon and feel free to tag @CoinOfNote@Historians.social.