Hobo Nickel Art Coin

Other carvers such as "Cinco de Arturo" (Arturo DelFavero) also appeared in the 1980s and 1990s, introducing more modern subject matter (cartoon characters, witches, and animals). Most nickel carvers of the 1980s to mid-1990s are regarded by collectors as mediocre at best, but circa 1995, Ron Landis, an engraver in Arkansas, began creating superior quality carvings. For about four years, Landis was the only nickel carver creating superior carvings, at the rate of only one to two dozen per year (all signed, numbered, and dated). Many other professional engravers have since begun creating hobo nickels. Landis and "Cinco de Arturo" are two of four known living artist practicing this craft prior to the year 2000. The others are Sonny Carpenter, and Bill Jameson (Billzach), All four are considered superior carvers, and ground breakers that inspired the current renaissance.
Some current prolific carvers are converting from quantity to quality, making fewer pieces of high artistic quality (as the market is flooded with lower quality quickly-made carvings). Modern carvings of superior quality sell for about the same prices as classic old original carvings of equal quality by unknown artists.
From the early 1980s to the present, modern lesser-quality carvings could and still can be purchased for as little as $5 to $10 each. Many new collectors found it hard to obtain good-quality old original hobo nickels (as they are so scarce and costly), so they began collecting the readily obtainable and cheap modern works.
About 100,000 (and possibly as many as 200,000) classic hobo nickels were created from 1913 to 1980. Modern artists have created (and continue to create) altered nickels in such large quantities that, within the next few years, the number of modern carvings is expected to surpass that of classic old hobo nickels. Most of the 100,000-plus classic old hobo nickels are not yet in the hands of collectors, whereas almost all modern carvings are. Among numismatists, the modern carvings already greatly outnumber the classic old hobo nickels.