An unusual encased coin

[brandm24]

I've seen many encased coins over the years and even have a small collection of them, but have never seen anything like this one.

It's a 1944 Lincoln Cent encased in a 1948 Franklin Half Dollar. By the heavy wear I'd guess that it was carried as a pocket piece...for a very long time. The encasement seems to be very professionally done. I'm not sure how the smaller coin remains inserted in the half dollar. Maybe the hole is minutely smaller than the size of the cent and it's held in place by pressure. It's also possible that some type of solder or adhesive was used. In any case, the piece is expertly done but it's too bad that there isn't any engraving or markings to tell us who made it.

A fun piece.

Bruce

[CannedMeat]

Those images really confuse Coinoscope. The first suggestion is a bi-metallic coin from Sudan.

[Figleaf]

Ah! That would explain the sand patina of the pill.

Metal expands on heat, contracts with cold. If you cut the hole a fraction too small, cool the cent and heat the half, maybe you could put the two together, but you'd still be able to hammer the cent out.

Peter

[brandm24]

Your suggestion makes sense, Peter. I'm not sure how "traditional" encased coins are manufactured but expansion / contraction makes sense. The other option is pressure applied carefully to the coin to avoid damaging the piece.

I've seen encased coins that have come apart and haven't seen any traces of an adhesive or solder.

Bruce

[brandm24]

I recently came across this unusual encased copper cent...or half cent ...advertising the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. I'm not sure what the purpose of it is as it doesn't mention a particular company or exhibition. The chamber pot image is also curious. I suppose it's just a souvenir sold at the exhibition.

The reverse caption " I have been to MO (Missouri) and cleaned" is odd too. Apparently, the coin was cut in two and one section fastened (glued?) to the reverse and the other to the obverse. Somebody attempted to hole the encasement to wear or display.

Bruce

[Figleaf]

I interpret the reverse text as "I have been to Missouri and my money has been taken". I think the attack is aimed at the Kansas City casino, which stood on the grounds of the 1904 World's fair.

World's Fair St.Louis Full of Money now becomes clear, as chamber pots are usually full of other stuff than money. The maker/wearer may have considered that the commercial promises of the casino didn't match his actual results.

That leaves the two holes to explain. As they are on the side of the piece, my explanation would be: watch fob. You could show either side of the fob by holding the chain horizontally, contrasting the promise on one side with the actual outcome on the other.

How the cent was inserted is too complicated to explain without either more pictures or having the piece in hand.

Peter

[brandm24]

"I've been to Missouri and my money has been taken" As in "cleaned out." I can see that as an explanation...makes sense.

The more I think about it the coin may be intact and not cut. If the chamber pot's design is raised enough it might hide half the coin on either side making it to appear cut. I wish there was a side view so we could make that determination. An interesting piece nevertheless.

Bruce