AUCTION / THE CANDACE D. KAGIN COLLECTION OF HOBO NICKELS

THE CANDACE D. KAGIN COLLECTION OF HOBO NICKELS

Auction CurrencyUSD Auction Location1550 Tiburon Blvd. Suite G201, Tiburon, California, 94920, United States In Person Previewauctions.kagins.com

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KAGIN’S AUCTIONS OFFERS THE CANDACE D. KAGIN COLLECTION OF HOBO NICKELS

Billed as the largest and finest collection of Hobo Nickels ever assembled and offered for sale, the Candace D. Kagin collection consists of over 600 individual coins. They include over 100 ‘Bo’s” and “Bert’s”, unnamed carvers, Modern carvers, privately held Hobo nickels, and ancillary items.

The offering will take place over three auctions commencing with approximately 200 lots on September 28, 2026. All auction’s will be sold live on-line only. A comprehensive reference work including all the lots as well as some 40 coins sold by Stacks Bowers Galleries, is planned after all the sales are concluded sometime in 2027.

5% of the hammer price will be donated to The Original Hobo Nickel Society (OHNS).

Candace began collecting Hobo Nickels in 2005 at the FUN convention in Orlando. It was her first time at a coin convention where she overheard a dealer explaining that the nickel in his case was hand carved by a ‘hobo’. Her curiosity was peaked. At the annual OHNS auction Kagin set a world record price for her purchase of a carving of a woman called “Monique”.

Several years later she purchased what was believed to be the largest collection of Hobo nickels from Salt Lake City dealer Bob Campbell. Several years and a few hundred coins later, Candace added to the collection which now contains over 600 coins.

Born from ingenuity and necessity, the Hobo Nickel is a small-denomination coin—most often the American Buffalo nickel—hand-carved by itinerant artists, or “hobos,” during the early twentieth century. With crude tools and creative vision, these artists transformed ordinary coins into portraits, whimsical scenes, or abstract designs, sometimes reflecting their own journeys or the culture of the time.

The tradition began in earnest around the 1920s, coinciding with the Great Depression, when economic hardship forced many to travel the rails in search of work. The coins acted not only as possible currency but as tokens of gratitude, mementos, or barter items exchanged for food, shelter, or simple companionship. Each Hobo Nickel is thus a relic of survival, storytelling, and artistic improvisation

These coins capture moments of resilience and creativity during some of America’s most challenging years. They serve as everyday objects transformed by extraordinary skill, a reminder that art can flourish even in the most austere circumstances.

Hobo Nickels also bridge worlds—between art and commerce, anonymity and fame, poverty and ingenuity. The artists themselves often worked in obscurity, yet their creations live on, admired and studied by collectors like Candace and by historians seeking to understand the spirit of an era.

When assembling her collection, Candace paid close attention to provenance, ensuring that each piece is properly authenticated as much as it could be. She treasures the coins with known stories—a nickel carved by a train-hopping artist in the 1930s, another exchanged for a hot meal at a rural depot, or pieces crafted by contemporary carvers who honor the tradition.

2026 Sep 08
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1101 - A Hidden Gem A Plate Coin in the Joyce Ann Romines reference book The Hobo Nickel

Kagin's, Inc

An exceptional carving by one of the early masters, George Washington “Bo” Hughes, who took up the art form just prior to the Great

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Start Price : 2,500.00

THE CANDACE D. KAGIN COLLECTION OF HOBO NICKELS

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