Bent gold coin...

Dino - UK · Jan 10, 2007

...I thought I would take the liberty of showing you this bent gold coin I dug in 2005.

It is a gold quarter Noble of Edward 3rd. Treaty period coin, London mint. 1361-69. Weight 1.9 grams.

This is what it looked like when dug...

This is the same coin after being given the Dino treatment of hot chip fat and a wooden rolling pin. Came out well!

mxtswinger · Jan 10, 2007

HOLY MOLY!

Niiiiiiiiiiiice!

Texaspast · Jan 10, 2007

Hot chip fat? You mean you fried it?

spittfire · Jan 10, 2007

Was there chips with that :lol:

Merf · Jan 10, 2007

Nice coin Dino, Congrats :wow:

Rudy · Jan 10, 2007

Nice job with that rolling pin Dino. How valuable is a coin like that one? :?:

novakpower · Jan 10, 2007

Love it. Congrats on the most excellent find.

Dino - UK · Jan 11, 2007

Rudy said:
Nice job with that rolling pin Dino. How valuable is a coin like that one?

I would think with the few scuffs the coin has, about £300-£350 ($600-$700).

bearbqd · Jan 11, 2007

Wow! That Rocks! :shock:

TerryEastTexas · Jan 11, 2007

Super Dino. Like Texaspast I'm curious what the hot chip fat method is.

tin_can · Jan 11, 2007

mmm, gold

quite an amazing snag there, and what an amazing recovery of its condition! tell us about this chip fat method?

Dino - UK · Jan 11, 2007

The chip fat method...

Well, when a coin gets that bent, the molecules in the metal get altered.
The ones on the inside of the bend get compressed, and the ones on the outside get stretched.
By trying to straighten a coin in a rush, the coin can just snap in two.
What needs to be done is to re-anneal the metal.
The hottest thing in a household, without using a naked flame is cooking oil. I heat a small saucepan of it until it is smoking hot, drop the coin in for a few seconds, and then using tweezers lift it out and plunge into cold water.
This re-anneals the metal, without the risk of melting it.
Once this is done, I then re-immerse the coin into the oil, which will ease the straightening process...and immediately force the coin open as much as possible with a piece of tissue (it is hot!)
This process I repeat until I can just use a small wooden rolling pin to finish the job on the hot coin.
You will need to be a brave person to do this on something valuable, but hell, it's only an old bent coin eh? :lol:

Cladius · Jan 11, 2007

Very cool! I'm going to try that on my next bent gold coin! :yes:

Good going. Cladius.

Lou-CT · Jan 11, 2007

Beautiful coin!

I'll have to try the hot oil method. My wife already said that her deep fat fryer is off limits.

dooby · Jan 11, 2007

Lou-CT said:
I'll have to try the hot oil method. My wife already said that her deep fat fryer is off limits.

I was thinking the same thing Lou-CT !!!

way too cool Dino, another one of those I would I do that to keep in mind !!!!

Florida Tabdigger · Jan 12, 2007

Wow...over 600 years old. I couldn't imagine a find like that.

bugguy · Jan 27, 2007

maybe when i find my first BENT gold coin :lol:

i can just throw it in with dinner kill two birds with one stone

Krom · Jan 29, 2007

Wish I knew this when I tried to straighten out my 1 reale.

Thanks, Dino. Great advice.

JimAZ · Mar 30, 2007

Dino - UK said:
The chip fat method...
What needs to be done is to re-anneal the metal.
The hottest thing in a household, without using a naked flame is cooking oil. I heat a small saucepan of it until it is smoking hot, drop the coin in for a few seconds, and then using tweezers lift it out and plunge into cold water.
This re-anneals the metal, without the risk of melting it.

I'm a silversmith, and this won't work for all gold. You need to know what karat your gold is to find the annealing temperature. Apparently, your coin is 24 karat gold, which anneals at about 390 degrees fahrenheit. But at a relatively pure 21 karats, you need over 1000 degrees, which is hotter than cooking oil. The following website helps determine the temps you need to anneal your metal: http://www.gold.org/jewellery/technology/alloys/index.html. See the table "Typical Annealing Temperatures".

Nice job on that coin. I think you did all the right things to make it turn out so well (anneal first, don't use a hammer, work it with a wood tool).

--
Jim

booker · Mar 30, 2007

Congrats--very nice

Bent gold coin...

Dino - UK

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