I knew gold was soft but was surprised to see how actually soft it is. What a great find and a great video, really pleased you've started this channel along with your other one great idea well done. I decided to start my own detecting channel after I found so many coins at one of my permissions and missed them all, however my new permission produced an absolutely cracking Silver James VI Silver 1/4 Merk 1602 last week which I was proper happy about as it was my very first hammered 👍🏻 good luck with the new channel. All the best Ryan Mackenzie-Raymond (The guy you asked about an intro tune a while back, in case you wondered) 😁👍🏻
great video, now i'll have the confidence to straighten my own gold coins without being paranoid about damaging them! i've annealed a few silver hammerd's (a bit hit & miss), this seems a more stable metal to work with. cheers!
Very nice job! I have a question. You see many people undertaking this process on silver hammered coins. On every video I see, they heat the coin up and then once cherry red, they drop it into cold water before manipulating the coin. You do not use the cold water part of the process it seems. Is this because you were using a gold coin?
A little late replying (and in the absence of a reply from our friend), do NOT drop into cold water. For straightening coins, there is absolutely no good reason to do this. Jewelers quench silver (to speed up the work), followed up by pickling to keep the metal clean (untarnished), a process that would damage the value of a coin. The annealing process rearranges the molecules within the metal, effectively relieving any stresses which can lead to cracking. Allowing the metal to cool slowly allows the molecules to "settle". Immediate cooling does not allow enough time for the molecules to rearrange and "settle" and any attempted straightening of the coin in this state can lead to cracking of the metal. Of course, with a thin hammered, cooling will be pretty quick, but quenching won't do the repair process any good. Also be aware that the annealing temperature is not too far away from the melting temperature. Cherry red is okay, but no more. Annealing temperatures for various precious metals is available on the interweb. As Mr Michael says, very low pressure should be applied when straightening so as to not distort the surface of the coin. As an aside, one can begin straightening of the coin once it has been annealed and allowed to cool to room temperature. It's best to do this with ones fingers - one can better feel the pressure points and soft skin does not harm the coin's surface. You can begin to straighten the bend, but only a little bit at a time (say one or two degrees at a time, i.e., very delicately and incrementally) in between bouts of annealing, as you are putting in a little stress into the metal every time it is unbent. I must emphasize a little at a time to limit the amount of stress introduced while bending; too much and it will break or at the very least badly distort the metal. It may take, say, 50 to 80 rounds of bending and annealing to get from a 90 degree bend to a flat flan. The downside to this is that it will take a lot longer, but the upside is far less potential damage to the surface of the coin and consequently less devaluing of the coin. It is easier to do with gold coins than silver, one has to be very careful with the latter. If you're lucky in having some flat flans of modern silver and gold, practice on that. While gold coins can be restored reasonably well, I would personally leave silver coins alone due to the tarnishing that Mr Michael speaks of, and the unknown amount of silver content for some coins (the less silver, the more likely it will break regardless of how careful you are). By the way, I've seen the videos where silver coins are quenched. In each of them an obvious crack in the metal develops. I even saw one Y'tuber take a dremel tool to 'smooth' out the damage. This is deep into 'Bubba' territory. NEVER, EVER do this. The value of the coin is completely destroyed.
Wow that's fantastic Michael! - A great skill you've got going there matey... 🙏 I Literally had *No* idea... (altho' I wud've guessed you'd apply heat in some way...). It's really good that you use wooden tools too I reckon, as there's a natural 'organic give' to wood as opposed to metal or stone hey?... Brilliant stuff mate, an' well done B 🐭 (Ps. my only problem is I have to actually *find* one now!...
I knew gold was soft but was surprised to see how actually soft it is. What a great find and a great video, really pleased you've started this channel along with your other one great idea well done. I decided to start my own detecting channel after I found so many coins at one of my permissions and missed them all, however my new permission produced an absolutely cracking Silver James VI Silver 1/4 Merk 1602 last week which I was proper happy about as it was my very first hammered 👍🏻 good luck with the new channel. All the best Ryan Mackenzie-Raymond (The guy you asked about an intro tune a while back, in case you wondered) 😁👍🏻
You made that look really easy 👍fantastic job and all I need now is to find 1 😅🤞🤞👍
They're stunning! They dont look real. Hoping i find one, one day 🙏🏻.
great video, now i'll have the confidence to straighten my own gold coins without being paranoid about damaging them! i've annealed a few silver hammerd's (a bit hit & miss), this seems a more stable metal to work with. cheers!
Nice video! Sweet Big hello from new friends and subscribers from southern Europe!
That was superb work!
Great job! 👏
It came out well. I never like to get too carried away and go too fast. Cheers John
Well done Michael. Now all I need to do is find a hammered gold! Do you think your coin was clipped a bit?
Very nice job! I have a question. You see many people undertaking this process on silver hammered coins. On every video I see, they heat the coin up and then once cherry red, they drop it into cold water before manipulating the coin. You do not use the cold water part of the process it seems. Is this because you were using a gold coin?
A little late replying (and in the absence of a reply from our friend), do NOT drop into cold water. For straightening coins, there is absolutely no good reason to do this. Jewelers quench silver (to speed up the work), followed up by pickling to keep the metal clean (untarnished), a process that would damage the value of a coin.
The annealing process rearranges the molecules within the metal, effectively relieving any stresses which can lead to cracking. Allowing the metal to cool slowly allows the molecules to "settle". Immediate cooling does not allow enough time for the molecules to rearrange and "settle" and any attempted straightening of the coin in this state can lead to cracking of the metal. Of course, with a thin hammered, cooling will be pretty quick, but quenching won't do the repair process any good. Also be aware that the annealing temperature is not too far away from the melting temperature. Cherry red is okay, but no more. Annealing temperatures for various precious metals is available on the interweb.
As Mr Michael says, very low pressure should be applied when straightening so as to not distort the surface of the coin. As an aside, one can begin straightening of the coin once it has been annealed and allowed to cool to room temperature. It's best to do this with ones fingers - one can better feel the pressure points and soft skin does not harm the coin's surface. You can begin to straighten the bend, but only a little bit at a time (say one or two degrees at a time, i.e., very delicately and incrementally) in between bouts of annealing, as you are putting in a little stress into the metal every time it is unbent. I must emphasize a little at a time to limit the amount of stress introduced while bending; too much and it will break or at the very least badly distort the metal. It may take, say, 50 to 80 rounds of bending and annealing to get from a 90 degree bend to a flat flan. The downside to this is that it will take a lot longer, but the upside is far less potential damage to the surface of the coin and consequently less devaluing of the coin. It is easier to do with gold coins than silver, one has to be very careful with the latter. If you're lucky in having some flat flans of modern silver and gold, practice on that. While gold coins can be restored reasonably well, I would personally leave silver coins alone due to the tarnishing that Mr Michael speaks of, and the unknown amount of silver content for some coins (the less silver, the more likely it will break regardless of how careful you are).
By the way, I've seen the videos where silver coins are quenched. In each of them an obvious crack in the metal develops. I even saw one Y'tuber take a dremel tool to 'smooth' out the damage. This is deep into 'Bubba' territory. NEVER, EVER do this. The value of the coin is completely destroyed.
Wow that's fantastic Michael! - A great skill you've got going there matey... 🙏 I Literally had *No* idea... (altho' I wud've guessed you'd apply heat in some way...). It's really good that you use wooden tools too I reckon, as there's a natural 'organic give' to wood as opposed to metal or stone hey?... Brilliant stuff mate, an' well done B 🐭 (Ps. my only problem is I have to actually *find* one now!...