Question: Can this happen to a silver coin?

Ron Jr.

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This was on fb this morning. The carver Mathew Haggerman said he dropped this coin while hot onto a cold floor and this is what happened? I wasn't aware this was even in the realm of possibility for a silver coin.
 

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mitch

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how certain is he that the coin is genuine?
 

Beladran

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I'm gonna go out on a limb here for a second. Silver work hardens when ever you hit it. So when this coin was struck 100 years ago it work hardened it/stressed it. I'm guessing the coin wasn't annealed in the oven as I am guessing it was just to add color to the coin. Stress, plus thermal shock, plus impact=beeroken. Same way with hot glass an cold water
 

Ron Jr.

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First off I want to say I'm certainly not any kind of expert here but I have played around with metal and forges for most of my life so this has got my curiosity button pushed big time.

Mitch; That's one hypothesis being mentioned, possibly a fake cast coin.

Beladran, I wondered that. If it was VERY hot on the edge of melting and it was laid onto a cold floor... If it was immersed into something very cold I think I'd have an easier time with this. A struck coin is incredibly tough.
 

silverchip

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Definitely thermal shock, most overheating to begin with and then being dropped on a hard floor.I have experienced this when annealing silver pieces that were dropped into the pickle pot before letting them cool slightly. (Not braggin-just fact)
 

atexascowboy2011

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That is where the term,"Smokin'! " originated Haraga, due to one's ability to grave with blinding speed, thus heating the material up due to the extreme friction, causing it to smoke.
 

maplesm

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If you enlarge the photo, the edges of the metal looks very porous. Maybe cast metal something other than silver?
 

monk

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i'm going to jump completely off the limb here: i think we are possibly looking at a skilled photoshop image that was released before april 1 ! thermal shock ? the coin, regardless of the processing-- falling to the floor-- how much shock would occur ? mass x velocity producing what you see there ? hmmm, i don't think so.
 

atexascowboy2011

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Look at the top where the two splits start. There is an indention point of impact, BUT !, this does not explain the second split.
 

atexascowboy2011

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Years ago, I cracked/stress fractured 16ga. sterling in my press at around 5,000 psi, IF, I remember correctly. This was prior to learning how to judge the annealing color and got it too danged hot.
I still have that piece as a show and tell of how NOT to do it.
 

DakotaDocMartin

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I'm thinking it's a Chinese knockoff coin purchased on eBay. The metal looks as if it were cast. Stamped metal sheet (which is more or less what a coin is) wouldn't have that graininess to it. Perhaps if it were dropped while still orange-red hot it MIGHT. But, I'd bet it's a fake coin.
 

mrthe

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It's Fake coin without doubt , carvers should heat the couns to blackenig them, but this is not Silver.
 

rodsta

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I think you hit it spot on Doc. There has been a rash of Chinese coins being sold as the real thing and the weight is wrong and they are not exactly right in the minting but pretty close. That's my 2cents.
 

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