# coin cutting



## Crashmph (Feb 15, 2013)

I think there is some competition out there for cutting of the quarters...

http://i.imgur.com/Fd1Tay1.jpg


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## carpblaster (Feb 15, 2013)

I thought it was against the law to destroy currency.once alterd they can't be used,i know i woul not want to find out


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## seamus7227 (Feb 15, 2013)

maybe a little, but the difference in the coins that are in that link is that they are the full thickness of the coin. Where mine are actually a third the thickness of the coin when i cut them out. That makes some cuts nearly impossible to make when they are that thin without the coin literally falling apart. I have however, discovered a new way to do more tideous cuts like the picture in the link you posted, however, more detail means more work, which means more time, which also means more money. In many cases, simpler is better.


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## jttheclockman (Feb 15, 2013)

Coin cutting has been around for awhile. That person is very good because of the detail he left behind. Very tedious work. Those do not lend themselves to being bent as Seamus does. We went through the legality of this before and it was determined not to be illegal.


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## JohnU (Feb 15, 2013)

carpblaster said:


> I thought it was against the law to destroy currency.once alterd they can't be used,i know i woul not want to find out



I don't think coins are defined as currency which is why the zoo makes a killing on people who want to turn their pennies into pressed tokens.  Paper money is another story, unless you buy a bag of shredded paper money from the mint.


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## Smitty37 (Feb 15, 2013)

carpblaster said:


> I thought it was against the law to destroy currency.once alterd they can't be used,i know i woul not want to find out


You must be kidding?  The 50 state quarters started appearing painted almost with the first issue I have one that I got years ago...they have also been gold plated.  It pays to contact the mint and get permission for most alterations, and you can't claim that your alterations are approved by the mint.


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## seamus7227 (Feb 15, 2013)

Here is something I did recently for someone who sent me some mercury dimes that originally were cut out to be made into a necklace pendant. I thinned them down and cast them over carbon fiber. notice the "E" in Liberty has a hole through it where the necklace ring would have gone through.


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## Kenny Durrant (Feb 15, 2013)

Wow I'm impressed. What little I do is tough but that's pretty awsome. They have to have some kind of special machine. I don't know if better equ. would help me I'd probably go completly blind If I tried something like that.


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## monark88 (Feb 15, 2013)

JohnU said:


> carpblaster said:
> 
> 
> > I thought it was against the law to destroy currency.once alterd they can't be used,i know i woul not want to find out
> ...



Yes coins are currency as is paper money and other legal tender.


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## seamus7227 (Feb 15, 2013)

Kenny, i gotta admit that i myself did not cut out the mercury dimes. they were sent to me that way from the person that wanted the blanks. But what i was getting at was that the detail on them is much easier to cut out when they are at their full thickness(in other words, not thinned down yet). Thats not to say i cant cut that type of detail, the process just takes longer to do.

FYI: for any and all newcomers to this type of thread, please refrain from all of the comments about this type of work being illegal. If you do a search in the forums, you will see plenty of information where all of this has been hashed out in the past. It is not illegal as long as the currency in question is not put back into circulation


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## Smitty37 (Feb 15, 2013)

seamus7227 said:


> Kenny, i gotta admit that i myself did not cut out the mercury dimes. they were sent to me that way from the person that wanted the blanks. But what i was getting at was that the detail on them is much easier to cut out when they are at their full thickness(in other words, not thinned down yet). Thats not to say i cant cut that type of detail, the process just takes longer to do.
> 
> FYI: for any and all newcomers to this type of thread, please refrain from all of the comments about this type of work being illegal. If you do a search in the forums, you will see plenty of information where all of this has been hashed out in the past. It is not illegal as long as the currency in question is not put back into circulation


Agreed --- I had coins from the 19th century that had the reverse polished off and initials engraved on them.  A hole was drilled and they would be hung around the neck on a chain.  They were common and were called love tokens.  The coins (because some of the silver had been removed) could not be used as money.


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## gallianp (Feb 15, 2013)

When you were a youngster did ever put a penny on the RR track and wait for the train?


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## Smitty37 (Feb 15, 2013)

gallianp said:


> When you were a youngster did ever put a penny on the RR track and wait for the train?


 Yep


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## seamus7227 (Feb 15, 2013)

gallianp said:


> When you were a youngster did ever put a penny on the RR track and wait for the train?


 
a penny, a nickel and a quarter! just cuz we could!:biggrin:


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## SerenityWoodWorks (Feb 15, 2013)

As a little boy we use to sit out by the tracks and put all kinds of things on them waiting for the trains...until the Wichita Falls police dept decided to stop and tell our parents....nothing like seeing your dads face when he is told his kids were putting his "full" beer cans on the tracks just so you could see them explode.


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## seamus7227 (Feb 15, 2013)

SerenityWoodWorks said:


> As a little boy we use to sit out by the tracks and put all kinds of things on them waiting for the trains...until the Wichita Falls police dept decided to stop and tell our parents....nothing like seeing your dads face when he is told his kids were putting his "full" beer cans on the tracks just so you could see them explode.


 

ROFLMAO!!!! I needed that laugh! that was a good visual! Heck, i never tried that before, bet that was tons of fun!


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## SerenityWoodWorks (Feb 15, 2013)

well just like pen turning it was a trial and effort I remember the hours we would take setting up the "crush" at first just sitting it on the track it would roll off and not really do much...we learned to secure it to the track using what ever we could find for the real explosion factor to set in.


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## CharlesJohnson (Feb 15, 2013)

seamus7227 said:


> Kenny, i gotta admit that i myself did not cut out the mercury dimes. they were sent to me that way from the person that wanted the blanks. But what i was getting at was that the detail on them is much easier to cut out when they are at their full thickness(in other words, not thinned down yet). Thats not to say i cant cut that type of detail, the process just takes longer to do.
> 
> FYI: for any and all newcomers to this type of thread, please refrain from all of the comments about this type of work being illegal. If you do a search in the forums, you will see plenty of information where all of this has been hashed out in the past. It is not illegal as long as the currency in question is not put back into circulation


 
Thanks Seamus7227.  That was very clear and to the point. I don't know how I missed that the first time around.


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## panamag8or (Feb 15, 2013)

seamus7227 said:


> gallianp said:
> 
> 
> > When you were a youngster did ever put a penny on the RR track and wait for the train?
> ...



Just don't do a ball bearing... I've seen them shoot out from under the wheel like a bullet.

As to the original post... I sure hate to see a nice Morgan like that get cut up.


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## Smitty37 (Feb 15, 2013)

monark88 said:


> JohnU said:
> 
> 
> > carpblaster said:
> ...



Technically that is correct - but - currency is money in *circulation* and today with so much of the money in circulation being nothing more than digits composed of 1's and 0's flying around in computers it's kind of a meaningless definition.  Most of the money in circulation today does not even exist outside the computers and there is no way the government could give cash (even paper money) cover it.


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## carpblaster (Feb 15, 2013)

I would like to see a genuine silver dime,and the slivers of silver ebeded in the acrylic pour that are being cut out. I bet that would be pretty ,I tried a penny once, took more of my skin off my finger than the penny, decided to let the big guys who know how to do it do itLOL


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## Wood Butcher (Feb 15, 2013)

I've been playing around with the idea for a while but the going is really slow.  I haven't figgered out how to thin the coin without either burning off or sanding the end off my fingers.  Maybe the old train track trick would work, just be a bit bigger than usual.
WB


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## Kenny Durrant (Feb 15, 2013)

Seamus I've looked at your work closely and you are very good at what you do. I figured you could do just as good a job as the other fellow. I've tried cutting out the quarters before and after thinning and I know what you mean it is easier to cut a full thickness. With what few coins I work with my poor eye-sight just wears me out staring at the detail of the coins. I think I'll just keep my work simple and admire the expertise of you and the others.


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## jttheclockman (Feb 15, 2013)

Boy we are reliving an old post. To thin a quarter try cutting it in half with a scrollsaw:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:


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## Smitty37 (Feb 15, 2013)

Kenny Durrant said:


> Seamus I've looked at your work closely and you are very good at what you do. I figured you could do just as good a job as the other fellow. I've tried cutting out the quarters before and after thinning and I know what you mean it is easier to cut a full thickness. With what few coins I work with my poor eye-sight just wears me out staring at the detail of the coins. I think I'll just keep my work simple and admire the expertise of you and the others.


 Yea, I don't think my eyesight would let me do that even if I had the skill an patience, which I don't.


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## seamus7227 (Feb 16, 2013)

jttheclockman said:


> Boy we are reliving an old post. To thin a quarter try cutting it in half with a scrollsaw:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:



Yeah, you know, I never got to have the two halves of that quarter that you split.


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## jttheclockman (Feb 16, 2013)

seamus7227 said:


> jttheclockman said:
> 
> 
> > Boy we are reliving an old post. To thin a quarter try cutting it in half with a scrollsaw:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
> ...


 
I am keeping those to show the world it can be done. Having them bronzed.:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:


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## Crashmph (Feb 16, 2013)

I really want to try to do that one day just to say I tried to do it... one day I may.  LOL


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## redbulldog (Feb 16, 2013)

That has never interested me in the slightest, I already have more than enough to do!


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