I've been getting very interested in flat figures this year, but I don't actually like a lot of the designs. Then I saw that someone had carved out a coin to just paint the head and had a bit of a brain wave: hobo nickels.

If you're not aware, hobo nickels were originally carved from real coins by hobos to make a bit of money way back in the day. Eventually they became a kind of art form in themselves, and now the best ones are worth absolutely ludicrous sums of money.

Death is a common theme for the coins because the faces obviously lend themselves to being turned into skulls.

I decided to do a series to make the most of it. I would warn anyone who also wants to try it to be aware that a lot of the time there's very, very little relief to work with - quite a lot less than on most flats. The Native American coin suffered from that quite a bit, especially the script around the edge, which is frankly an absolute mess.

Still, very happy with the overall result.

  • Eamon Connerty

    Great work! Cool project idea!

  • Ricardo Pisa

    Such a nice idea!

  • yjxbyby

    WOW，good idea

  • WojciechBober72

    Gold!

  • Marc MussatPLUS

    original !

    • Fet Milner

      Thanks, Marc!

  • Archigrog

    Great idea…so horrorific!

  • Magnus FagerbergPLUS

    Super cool and great painting!

  • StephanPLUS

    wow.

  • kov1980

    Super!!! Gold.

    • Fet Milner

      Thank you very much!

  • Jakob V

    Wow! This i so cool! Would love to do some flats.

    • Fet Milner

      Cheers, Jakob - you absolutely should! They’re quite a lot of fun and make an interesting change.