An acquaintance thought I might like to take pictures of odd coins he'd collected over the years. Most had been altered. The numbers, letters, and symbols stamped on some of the coins have obvious meanings, while on others not so much.

​

The Morgan silver dollar marked TRADER may have been used as a pass for admittance onto the floor of a stock or mercantile exchange...It's possible somebody had Vegas 4-17 engraved on the Eisenhower dollar to commemorate hitting the jackpot.

​

The picture with the arrangement of ten ‘Indian head’ pennies references the song, "Ten Little Indians." The bust on Indian head pennies is not of a native American, but rather of Liberty wearing a headdress. Seems ironic when one considers how harshly native Americans were treated by the government and citizenry.

​

The Love Token penny was made by an incarcerated man. Most likely he ground the obverse down by rubbing it against the concrete floor of his cell, a tedious task to be sure. What did he use to etch “I love Patty?” A nail?