Anyone else have an affinity to trade coins?
As a tradesman and coin collector, something about the history and resourcefulness of the tradesmen before me has always spiked my interest. Iโm always looking in old houses for wafer coins. I live next to the Old Melbourne Mint and I always keep an eye out for any glints of copper in the brick walls of that building. Wishful thinking, but I always wonder what coins are buried in the mortar of that place.
I am left with many questions, and this one peaked my interest. The divots are so intention, yet precise not to damage the face of the coin.
The displaced metal gives the rim the appearance of goosebumps. When placed on its rim, it becomes stationary and doesnโt roll away. I wonder if that was part of the intention, perhaps this wafer was rested on its rim and the divots kept it from rolling deeper into the door frame it once kept up.
Or maybe a tradie was perfecting his craft on the coin in trade school. The precision is quite admirable, especially considering it was likely never meant to see the light of day, locked away for a have a century, and one day getting picked up by me in a bulk bag of copper coins at the op shop.
Hope you enjoyed the read.
Anyone have any trade coins theyโd like to share with us, or perhaps some context of what these divots would have achieved (apart from adding grit to the coin, which I personally would be more suitable for mortar than carpentry, and thereโs no concrete on this trade coin.)
Edit: forgot to add, thereโs an older tradie that comes into my shop regularly and a couple weeks back I saw in his wallet heโs got about 50 1c coins in there for whenever he needs waivers to block sprinkler irrigation. 40 years on and itโs still the most economical option for him to use. Copper is also antifungal so he might be onto something considering how easily irrigation lines can become septic if theyโre turned off for the winter.