So what is a hobo nickel and how do you make them into rings? Carving coins has a long history dating back to the 1700s, but when the Indian Head nickel was released in 1913, it became especially popular with engravers because of its thick profile and large design. I’ve been intrigued by Indian Head nickels since I was a kid—there’s always been something authentically American about them. If you want more info about the history of hobo nickels, read the wikipedia article. 

In 2013, I started experimenting with Indian Head nickels to see what I could create. One day, I cut out the portrait, mounted it onto a half-inch band, and trimmed the top and bottom. Boom! It worked better than I expected. Next, I did the same with the buffalo side, and it turned out exactly how I’d hoped. Something about wearing them as rings just felt right—it captured their history in a way that made sense to me.

I started making them for friends and selling them on Etsy, but I wanted to push things further. I had a hobo nickel I’d bought a couple of years earlier, and I decided to throw caution to the wind and cut it out for a ring. It turned out fantastic. Not long after, a guy in England, Mark Lee, saw my work on Instagram and suggested I check out a nickel carver on eBay named Shane "Hobo" Hunter. When I saw Shane’s work, I was blown away. I reached out and asked if he’d be willing to carve some nickels for me. I wanted a traditional hobo nickel but with a twist—Day of the Dead designs—to give my rings an even more unique look.

Since then, Shane and I have worked on all kinds of ideas. The first custom design we collaborated on was the Café Racer hobo nickel, featuring a helmet with small details on the side. I also had him carve a Mercury head dime, and I liked it so much that I designed a new ring for it—no cutting required.

That’s how the Silver Piston hobo nickel rings came to be.