Today's specimens: Pennies stamped with the Masons' square-and-compass symbol.
Since so many of the folks in the @silvergoldstackers community have been posting coins that aren't necessarily silver or gold, I thought I'd share something that seems unique to me, despite not being made of silver or gold. If Wikipedia is to be believed, these are, in fact, bronze, despite looking quite coppery. (I s'pose real copper would be green by now, though.)
The Backstory
Both my father, and his father before him, were masons. My grandfather reached the 32nd degree, which I know because I have his 32nd degree ring. I'm not sure how far my father advanced, but I know it wasn't as far as his dad.
I'm not actually sure which of them originally obtained these pennies; it could've been either, as my dad was born in 1924, but my money's on my dad. I imagine my grandpa had been in the masons for at least a couple decades by the time these were minted. I also read, while researching for this article, that pennies like this were given when a man was first initiated into a masonic lodge, so that also points to this being around the time my dad would've been the right age. Why he'd have two, though, I have no clue!
I found them interesting because of the lumped-up deformedness where the stamping was done. It's kinda obvious in the photo of the obverse side, above, but I think it's much more obvious on the reverse, because of the way it pushes the pennies up off of the box I was using for a background, and completely obliterates the original mint-print. Most of the "counterstruck" pennies on eBay were flat, or at least much flatter than than these. Only a small handful had this sort of domed bulge.
I'd apologize for the lousy photography but let's be real; if I had to drag out my lightbox and snap phancy photos for every coin I shared, I would never get around to sharing. 😆
It appears one is a 1948S, and the other is a 1950D, though I admit my old eyes can't make out that much detail without the assistance of the camera (or a really good magnifying glass) anymore.
I tried looking on eBay, to see if they were "worth something," But signs pointed to no. The highest price I saw one going for was a little under $15, but most were in the $1-$3 range.
I do find it interesting that the two marks are quite different from one another, despite the cents themselves being issued only a couple years apart. Obviously that doesn't necessarily mean they were stamped only two years apart, but it does seem likely.
Do you have anything Masonic or Masonic-adjacent among your family treasures?
Image credit: Art by Inky
Have a great day, y'all!
All photos are mine unless otherwise stated.
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I love your little what I am reading and working on a watching snippets.
Bridgerton stays the same. 😄 But Iove it. I watched the first 2 seasons twice and then there was a spinoff season and I am gagging for season three on Thursday. 🤣😄
The Masonic stamped pennies are cool. One of my grandpa’s was a mason. I didn’t know there were levels! 😄
Geez everybody a mason these days except me. Nobody likes me in their parties
Thank you! I wish I could take credit for the reading/working/watching concept, but it's actually the clever invention of a marketer named Dama Jue. She actually uses it in email marketing, but I loved it so much I snagged it for my blog. She teaches the whole how & why of it in her Four by For Footers course (affiliate link).
We decided we're going to give Bridgerton a couple more episodes and see if it draws us in. It's cute, but the foreshadowing was so heavy-handed, we basically called every "plot twist" as soon as it was set up. Sometimes it's nice to be a little surprised, y'know?
As for levels in the Masons, there are officially only 3 "degrees" or levels. The Scottish Rite (which I don't even claim to understand the significance of) is a subset that offers 32 degrees that can be earned, and a 33rd that is apparently bestowed as an honor.
Alas, my dad was a good Mason, and never told me much of anything about their secrets. But I'm pretty sure a lot of that tea has been spilled online, so if you look, you can probably find it. It'd be a whole 'nother post if I were to dive down that rabbit hole though, so I'm not going there today. 😆
These are pretty neat !BBH !lPIMP !LOL
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I've never seen any Masonic stamped coins. That's fascinating. I'll have to ask some of my Mason friends if they know anything about them.
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I've never seen pennies stamped like this and didn't know it was a thing! What an interesting keepsake!
Yaasss! I'm pretty sure I have one of those somewhere too! Along with stuff like granddad's ring, a tie tack, and other stuff. Kinda neat that apparently many Masons all over had these things. A connecting thread in a world that was much, MUCH less connected than we are today!
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That's an interesting memento! Thanks for sharing it 😊
My pleasure! I have many other Masonically-related trinkets and baubles to share, but I'll try to mix it up so that I don't become too predictable. 😁 Thanks for the tips!
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