Nickel coin carving

Billzach · Feb 24, 2009

Here is my latest coin carving, The host coin was a 1938 au jefferson nickel..My goal was to give it a minted coin look..After this year my coin carving will be very limited as my wife and I plan to do more traveling and after 13 years of carving coins 40 to 60 hours a week I,m ready to venture out into other avenues of engraving...

Keith · Feb 24, 2009

Bill,
Beautiful coin....
Looks minted as always.
I dont think I can remember you carving one without mint fields.
Hope all is well.
Keith Pedersen

Northwest29 · Feb 24, 2009

Hi Bill,

Very nicely done. You folks that do coins simply amaze me. Do you have to heat the coin to soften it before carving?

Keith · Feb 24, 2009

No Need to soften the coin.
Get a nickel out of your pocket and try a few cuts, you will see how easy it is and its the cheapest practice plate you can get!

Scratchmo · Feb 24, 2009

Northwest29 said:
Hi Bill,

Very nicely done. You folks that do coins simply amaze me. Do you have to heat the coin to soften it before carving?

To answer your question, it is NOT a good idea to try to anneal a nickel before carving. I tried it once and found the metal to be gritty and more difficult to cut. They carve much smoother without annealing.

Nice Job as usual Bill. I gotta get busy and do a few nickels myself. I think it's been well over two years since I've completed one. I'm still thinking about your proposal to do a two-sided piece. Maybe this summer we can do one together if you have the time.
Ron

delder · Feb 24, 2009

Truely amazing work... I don't as many coins posted here as I used to. Always like seeing them. Thanks for posting. As a matter of fact , I don't see " sdcoxx " on here anymore either.

Peter E · Feb 24, 2009

Billzach said:
After this year my coin carving will be very limited as my wife and I plan to do more traveling and after 13 years of carving coins 40 to 60 hours a week I,m ready to venture out into other avenues of engraving...

I figured the mint wanted to hire you!

Your coins always look like they were minted that way.

Sorry to hear we won't be seeing many more but good luck on your new ventures.

Peter

monk · Feb 24, 2009

it takes too many words to adequately describe your wonderful work- i'm not going to even try !

Billzach · Feb 24, 2009

Peter E said:
I figured the mint wanted to hire you! Your coins always look like they were minted that way.

Sorry to hear we won't be seeing many more but good luck on your new ventures.

Peter

Peter
I,ll still be around, just not sure what I,ll be engraving...

pilkguns · Feb 24, 2009

Bill, are you gonna make it to the Engrave-In this year?

Billzach · Feb 24, 2009

pilkguns said:
Bill, are you gonna make it to the Engrave-In this year?

Scott
I can,t say for sure, but it,s a good chance my wife and I will be there..

Steve223 · Feb 25, 2009

Amazing carving Bill!

Marcus Hunt · Feb 25, 2009

Hi Bill, a beautiful carving as usual.

I noticed with some of the coins you use the field doesn't seem the same as the buffalo nickel. What coin is it you are using and are they as sort after as buffalo hobo nickels?

Billzach · Feb 25, 2009

Marcus Hunt said:
Hi Bill, a beautiful carving as usual.

I noticed with some of the coins you use the field doesn't seem the same as the buffalo nickel. What coin is it you are using and are they as sort after as buffalo hobo nickels?

Marcus
As far as I know the host coin, a jefferson nickel is make out of the same metal as a buffalo nickel , with the exception of the jefferson war nickels which contain silver, also I,m not sure what metal a new nickel is make of..I think the finished appearance of a coin carving depends on what degree I sand and pencil blast it and what I age it with..

gtsport · Feb 25, 2009

Marcus Hunt said:
Hi Bill, a beautiful carving as usual.

I noticed with some of the coins you use the field doesn't seem the same as the buffalo nickel. What coin is it you are using and are they as sort after as buffalo hobo nickels?

Hi Marcus and Bill,

I think the main difference between the looks of a carved buffalo nickel and a Jefferson nickel is the relief of the original coin. Buffs have a very high relief design, Jeffersons through the 80's have a low relief design and Jeffs since then have an incredibly low relief, mostly for ease of striking and long die life. Bill is right about the metallic content. Except for late 1942-1945 when an alloy without nickel was used, U.S. 5 cent pieces (nickels, not the earlier half dimes) have always been made out of an alloy of 75% copper and 25%nickel.

Joe Paonessa

Keith · Feb 25, 2009

Hi Bill,
Good talking to you the other day.
I saw the coin is listed on ebay, Hope it does well.
Keith

threefingerdave · Feb 26, 2009

Bill,
as always a true inspiration
40 to 60 hours a week?
wow
i just get to engrave on the weekends
i hope you will keep engraving as i really enjoy your work
thank you for all of your inspiration and help
Respectfully
Dave

Mike Cirelli · Feb 27, 2009

Nice carving Bill.

Nickel coin carving

Billzach

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