World’s Smallest IHP??

Dan B. said:

Most of the time the water and dirt makes them crusty, but in your case it shrunk. I love the fact that they paid attention to such detail on the front and the back. Very unique!

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Maybe someone left it in the dryer too long...Lord knows I’ve done it to my pants!!

I’m impressed by the detail too - it really matches quite well to the original. At first, the way the glue was slathered on the back of it, I thought the back would just be blank. It was cool to see all the familiar back detail come out as I worked to remove the glue

matmit said:

Nice injun regardless of size

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Thanks matmit! I added her to your “Show Me Your Injuns” thread too

Perquimans said:

Sweet - I've never seen one like that before!

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CharlieT84 said:

Nice find Ben. Always great to be surprised by something unexpected and unique.

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Thanks Perquimans! Thanks Charlie! It really surprised me to see the detail on it, even right out of the hole - it sure turned what I thought was a junk or trash find into a fun keeper

Silversmith45 said:

They used to sell those miniature coins in all different kinds; pennies, dimes, quarters, etc. Back before they had pinpointers I was hunting a schoolyard just as it was getting dark. I got a strong signal on my last hole. I removed dirt until the signal disappeared. Searching the dirt I couldn't find anything. I refilled the hole to get the signal again. I did this several times in the dark before finally finding a miniature dime. I have found several since then.

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KeyaPaha said:

Miniature replica coins were used as a novelty item to emphasize the inflation problem in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. They were contained in a pouch with a miniature replica cent, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar. Other versions had minature replicas of United States gold coins as well.

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Yep - the more I thought about it, I remembered getting a miniature Lincoln Memorial cent as a gag gift at some point when I was a kid, and I’m sure it was the late 70s or early 80s. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the same time frame. In fact, I could probably make a convincing case that it’s later 80s or 90s...inflation wouldn’t be as much of an issue then, so the “novelty” of the inflation angle wore off. Maybe the minter shifted to the more interesting Indian Head design to work the “vintage” angle to maintain sales?? I wonder if there’s a reason or significance to why they chose the 1903 IHP for the miniature?

Silversmith, I can only imagine tracking this thing down without a pinpointer in the dark!! I was having a devil of a time even with the pinpointer in full daylight!!

jack&jill said:

That is a odd find being that small Ben. Still you got out with a great story and a few Wheat's with it. That 1903 Indian (comparison coin) is a great looking coin with beautiful patina. Trapper

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Thanks Trapper! Yes, I’m happy to have this tiny, unique conversation piece in my collection! I’m seriously considering finding a way to mount it nicely into my Whitman IHP book next to its full size sister And I always welcome Wheats, especially since a couple of them turned out to be over a century old

The comparison Indian is from a previous hunt of course, but yes, it’s one of my better dug IHPs - I love those deep green patinas too!

AirmetTango said:

Holy shrunken inflation!! Fifteen bucks!! If he gets that, it’s more than an actual 1903 IHP in Extremely Fine condition!!! I suspect his might go unsold...



Still a pretty unique find, Scooter...but yeah, that’s an awful tease coming from a stage stop! Does it have the back detail on the coin portion also?

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I don't know what the back looks like the mount is solid I assume it is the same as yours. I found a company that still makes and sells them. I think it was $6 which makes it one of my most valuable coin finds.