I know its not quite the same thing as pounding on hot iron, but I found this little tutorial on making a ring from a dime interesting. I thought some of you folks might as well. It's located here:

How to make a Coin Ring

Cheers!

Sorry RC,
That link didn't seem to go anywhere at this end. Could you check addy and repost? I'd like to check it out :)

hmmmm still seems to work for me.. its cleanstream.net/mirrors/coin_ring/

It was posted on digg.com, so the server might have been bogged down.

worked for me....

I like it :)

Apparently it is an old silver half dollar, not a dime.

Just doesn't seem to have the same effect as receiving one from the betrothed on the the big day!

Nifty idea though. Unfortunately all our coins come with a pikky of the Queen of England on the face. It's an offense to disfigure the old duck as this exercise would surely do.

My grandfather has told me about making rings from old silver coinage using a spoon as the impact device while being in the service in WWII.

Thomas

I made one from a quarter in '71. Gave it to my sweety, now my dear bride and she will still wear it on occasion! I held it in my hand and used the inside of the spoon, tapping on the edge until it was the right size. I had seen one with 2 interlocking hearts that had been made by a person we now know as an illegal alien. Please, I intend no offense here. The man was an excellent craftsman, shame he couldn't pursue his talents.

You know, as a bloke thats done a little bit of silverworking I really did like that, I'd have a crack at it myself. Most rings are cast these days and to see an old silver coin used did me good, ingenuity in action :D

ApprenticeMan, you are right. Sorry if I offended, was not my intention. I will refrain from any mention of ethnic background in future posts. Once agian, sorry. But he sure did do some nice work! :)

way cool. I am going to give a try. teh problem with the idea though is that I don't think I could even get a quarter on my finger. I think I will have to start with a half dollar coin.

Thought it looked neat... Made one up for the wife...She freaked!!!!
Says I am just so Sweeeeeeet!!! Shaping up to be a great weekend.

If I may ask, is that one made from a silver quarter? Because it looks very coppery in the photo, just wondering if it works the same with the newer, non-silver coinage.

Thanks,

Joe

Sorry, I haven't checked this thread since I first posted complaining that it didn't work. I need to be more patient Neat process, albeit time consuming. I started one of those rings from a silver dollar many years ago. Drove my mom nutz with all the tap, tap, tapping. But, that may have been part of the motive. he he (I was only 14 or 15) I got frustrated with the tedium of the spoon "hammer" and soon switched to a small (8oz or less) ballpeen to speed up the process. This, however, caused the ring to start an "s" curve around the circumfrence. Interesting but not desired effect. I think I may still have it buried in my "treasures" somewhere. I'll have to try to dig it out someday and finish it. Might even fit now as my fingers have gained some girth since then LOL

If I may ask, is that one made from a silver quarter? Because it looks very coppery in the photo, just wondering if it works the same with the newer, non-silver coinage.

Thanks,

Joe

Hey Joe, It was made from a 1964 solid silver quarter. Sorry about the color, I think it is the reflection or the color of the DG's table settings and/or my poor photography.
I don't know if it works with the newer coins. But I can tell you this silver quarter ring got a beautiful soft glow shine from working it with FLITZ after working up to 1800 paper(I think it was 1800).
TIM

SheepishLion, yes it will work with newer coins, but the newer ones like quarters, half-dollars, and dimes have alot of copper in them and the copper will show up. I recomend using only silver coins. Any coin made before 1964 will be silver. If I am right, any nickel will work, because the newer nickels are make of nickel/zinc/silver, and not copper, so the finish won't be messed up. I made a couple of 'em for some lady-friends of mine and i find that if you use a rubber-belted oil-filter wrench to hold it while you auger out the inside works great. My dad has also told me that an old blacksmith that he knew made one for his wife for her wedding ring and he didn't auger out the inside. He found center, drilled a small hole and somehow rigged it to a drill and an air chisel while it sat on a piece of rubber belting and basically boated out the coin instead of grinding it out, and then mushroomed off the outside.

cheftjcook, about how wide is the ring, it looks very wide compared to the ones I've made. Mine are about 3/16 of an inch wide.

Here's a question I thought of while reading this thread:

How can you make them so they're sized correctly for someone's finger. I have no jewelry making experience, but when you take a ring in to be resized, what's the process and would you do similar with the coin?

HillbillySmith, It measures about a 1/4 inch wide. I like seeing the year of the quarter inside as well as some of the other detail as it transfers on to the flat band section. Next time I think I would go thinner and size the inside a bit larger. Or better yet start out with a silver dollar or half for my fingers.

Rick, I don't have a clue how to gauge it, as you can see by the picture it does not come close to fitting my bear paws and is tight on my wifes finger. I could grind out more to open it up some for her.

TIM