Introducing Candyman

By Chris Dempsey, LM64

Not often does a carving come along that I appreciate so much, in my mind it casts a shadow on even my best coins. With that being said, you can imagine how happy I was when I acquired the first example of this coin online in early 2012. Many months passed without a match turning up, either at auction or in the OHNS archives, when Don Wolfe emailed me to tell me that he owned the second match to my coin in his collection. I had already decided on a name for this carver when I purchased my coin, but Don's coin backed up all of my quick identifiers.

As is often the case with matching a new carver, the third coin often takes a very long time to locate. Thankfully this coin match didn't take TOO long to find, since Art "Steel Trap" DelFavero remembered he had seen the third match coin a long time ago in Warren Stabler's collection.

I decided on the name "Candyman" because the carving characteristics are very memorable and easily identifiable. Coins by "Candyman" exhibit a bow tie candy hat bow, a gumdrop diamond lapel pin, a candy cane hook ear, and sugar speckled bearding/eyebrow.

The carving characteristics for "Candyman" are listed as follows:

1. Date and liberty expertly removed and finely smoothed.
2. Crosshatched cuts comprise the figure's coat and coat collar.
3. Plain shirt collar stops at jaw line, with no neck visible.
4. Gumdrop shaped diamond stickpin with "sparkle cuts."
5. Domed derby with curved brim artfully shaped and smoothed.
6. Half "C" shaped ear resembles candy cane hook.
7. Speckled beard and eyebrow comprised of tight knit fine punches. Outline of the lips left intact.
8. Curved cuts to resemble hair flowing from under derby.
9. Finely shaped hat bow resembles Bow Tie Candy atop a crosshatched hatband.
10. Small cuts applied above nose to resemble wrinkles.
11. Special attention was paid to the finishing work on "Candyman" carvings to create an ultra-smooth, nicely finished look.