A coin carver's worst night-mare

Billzach · Feb 19, 2007

This is a frankin half dollar carving i finished today, look at the letters l & i on liberty and downward into the field., see the marks, pits, small humps, also look at the area around the word -we- on bottom of the coin, this coin has foreign material in it [ a coin carver,s worst night-mare ], it didn,t show until i had the coin 75% carved..i don,t know the percentage of coins that have foreign material in them, but over the last 11 years i,ve found maybe 20..if i find a coin with foreign material early in the carving of a coin, i,ll toss it into the junk bucket, but this one didn,t show until i started carving the hair, i was going to carve the hair with some flowers and such, but decided not to because of the foreign material...If you ever get one and catch it early in the carving process, junk it, if late in a carving try to make it work..

Mike Cirelli · Feb 19, 2007

Bill I ran into a nickel like that once. I was about 95% done stippling the background and it start flaking apart. I made it work but it took a lot of extra time. That can bring a few choice words to the lips. The dollar carving looks great even with the defects you point out.
Mike

coincutter · Feb 19, 2007

Bill:

Put walnut shells in the sand blaster

Mike:

That flaking when stippling is not an uncommon event with older age hardened nickels. Especially if your stipple tool is a bit rounded. It literally shocks the metal off in wonderful little domed slices. Turning the air pressure down and making a sharper point can stop that. Switching to AU's makes that a none event as they haven't taken a pocket pounding and the metal is more workable.

Sometimes it pays off to reverse directions and carry that shattered look back up overthe previous stipple if you ca nkeep it going. It makes for a nice reflective pattern that really stands out and others will find attractive.

Mike Cirelli · Feb 19, 2007

Thanks coincutter I only ran into that once it hasn't happened again. I'm glad of that. It wasn't even noticed until I bead blasted it.
Mike

jimzim75 · Feb 19, 2007

Forgive a Jeweller for not knowing more about coin carving, but if you
have a coin with a similar alloy to the one with the foreign material.
Is it not possible to roll is out into a thin sheet, and make some
high temp welding stock. Cut out the foreign material with a graver and
weld a patch in.
I would suppose the real problem might be destroying the natural
patina on the coin. I am also sure you wouldn't want a un-even
surface on a flat surface, but the letters might be saved.

The welding part wouldn't be to bad in that a small piece would be
much hotter until the coin came to temperature. Then they would fuse.
The quarter's alloy is .875 I think, and is a little darker than .925 sterling.

Sam · Feb 20, 2007

I've had to inlay a small piece of nickel to patch a coin I was engraving. It can be a real pain, especially if you're nearing completion.

Steece · Feb 20, 2007

Billzach,

What type of graver do you use to cut the hair on the coins??

Steece

Billzach · Feb 20, 2007

Steece
I cut hair with my monarch handpiece using gravers i make from grs tungsten carbide square blanks..I just checked to see what the width are, they are and this is hillbilly measuring, the width of a dime. They have a 55 degree face and a slight heel of 15 degrees..

Steece · Feb 20, 2007

Billzach,

Can you tell me if you are using a 90 degree or 120 degree etc.?

Steece

KSnyder · Feb 20, 2007

gentlemen,
the xtra stuff you are finding that cause the pits etc. are called inclusions.
A term that means dirt & other crap not actually meant to be in the alloy from insufficient heating / fluxing.
When melting lead for casting it comes to the top & is referred to as "dross".
Since US. coins are die struck I will guess the alloy wasn't just right.
That Franklin coin is just beautiful anyway.
Tell the collector this is desirable flaw as the government is almost always perfect. LOL

thanks for sharing your remarkable coin.
Kent

Billzach · Feb 20, 2007

Steece
The graver i mentioned in the first reply is a flat graver, 55 degree face, a slight 15 degree heel...My v gravers that i use are 110 degree and sometimes a 90 degree.. I never cut hair with a v graver, but some of the others may be.

Steece · Feb 20, 2007

Thanks Bill for sharing that info.

It is a real treat to study your work. As I look at your work and ask questions I realize the thing I need to spend more time doing to boost my skills is not cutting metal but simply spending more time drawing.

Steece

Billzach · Feb 20, 2007

I may be wrong, but carving coins are to me quite different than engraving scrolls and layouts on knifes, guns, etc, i think you need to actually carve the coins to get the feel of it.. I do draw a little, but it,s onto the coin i,m going to carve, so my advise to you is to draw a design on a coin and start cutting and keep cutting, until you get the ideal of how a coin cuts.

A coin carver's worst night-mare

Billzach

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