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Make Gold And Silver Pennies

video Make Gold And Silver Pennies

Turn pennies from copper to silver then to gold with a few household chemicals.

184 comments

1-40 of 184

Dec 30, 2011. 4:33 PMTheAmateurArtisan says:

Actually, I've done this and you are only making zinc copper and then brass alloys.

May 11, 2009. 7:32 AMbuild a BOOM says:

Just for all to know it is illegal to make a profit from changing coins, but not to destroy them or discolor.

Dec 20, 2011. 7:40 PMjprather says:

ok heres my thought on this

is the gov't going to pay thousands of dollars for judges and every thing else just to put someone behind bars for a penny to me its common sense

Sep 4, 2011. 9:30 AM35Timmy says:

it's also illegel to melt coins unless you are goverment authorirzed such as the mint which the ,mint is allowed to sell it for more than it's worth

Jun 9, 2011. 11:51 PMBlackFang171 says:

It is not illegal to profit from changing coins, when sold as novelties. it is illegal to profit by passing an altered coin as legal tender though. A trick that used to be common and is quite illegal was to shave a tiny bit off of the outside of many coins, and together that metal could be worth quite a bit. When added to the coins that still appeared to be legal tender, a profit was made.

Oct 30, 2011. 9:07 AMaugur45 says:

Shaving a bit off coins only worked when coins were made of pure silver or gold. And that was a long time ago...

Oct 30, 2011. 9:11 AMaugur45 says:

This is a great bit of chemistry. But since pennies are copper plated zinc, how about removing the copper plating to achieve these results?

Dec 19, 2010. 9:36 PMkasssa says:

"Is it illegal to damage or deface coins?" has been asked a number of times, in different forms...

Here is the answer from the US Treasury - a reasonably authority on the topic (from http://treas.tpaq.treasury.gov/education/faq/coins/portraits.shtml#q13):

"Section 331 of Title 18 of the United States code provides criminal penalties for anyone who “fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the Mints of the United States.” This statute means that you may be violating the law if you change the appearance of the coin and fraudulently represent it to be other than the altered coin that it is. As a matter of policy, the U.S. Mint does not promote coloring, plating or altering U.S. coinage: however, there are no sanctions against such activity absent fraudulent intent."

So if you're not doing this for fraudulent purposes, this is legal!

Dec 2, 2010. 12:53 PM5STARGBLOOD says:

just so eveery one knows if u do this in a glass jelly jar on a skillet make sure ur chemical balance is right or ull melt the glass then have to fumegate ur house of the smell i had a resperator on and i still felt sick after it

Mar 27, 2010. 2:32 AMurbanprimate says:

Who cares if it's illegal? Instructables are about physics, chemistry, etc. If you want to study law there are other sites for that. This is cool, and laws (except physical ones, which are the ones I care about) vary from one jurisdiction to the next as well as from one day to the next. Thanks for the info...I'll take responsibility for what I do with it, just as everyone should be responsible for their actions.

Awesome 'ible, btw.

Aug 10, 2010. 9:12 AMeulaliaaaa! says:

Yeah, it isn't illegal to make them, it is only illegal to put them back in circulation, i.e. Pay for things with them.

Jun 27, 2009. 8:39 PMthe jimster says:

what happens if you touch the stuff that makes the silver pennies

Jun 16, 2010. 5:00 PMservion says:

sodium hydroxide is a very strong base. It will first make the part of you body that touched it feel like it is all gooed up in soap. Then, if it is strong enough, it will burn you like an acid. Ah, and it also make holes in your clothes!

Aug 13, 2008. 5:48 PMrbneville says:

does this only work with pennies or does it work with other metals?

Aug 14, 2008. 1:45 PMfattymcbutterpants says:

it only works with copper, the combination of copper and zinc make bronze when heated. you can do it with copper pipe too, but that wouldn't be as cool.

Jun 16, 2010. 4:56 PMservion says:

I think you make a mistake... You need Tin and copper to make bronze, not zinc and copper :P

Aug 14, 2008. 1:48 PMfattymcbutterpants says:

oh and its not illegal, the coin will turn back to normal after a while, its only the surface that changes color.

Jul 13, 2009. 9:55 PM

strmrnnr says:

You mentioned that the copper color would come back eventually. Do you have any stats or guesses as to how long it would take and if longer treatments would penetrate the surface deeper. Also if heat treating it to gold extends the treatment. How is the corrosions resistance. I am thinking of doing the pipes under the sink and leaving the area open to see the pipework.

Nov 2, 2009. 1:11 PMeddypoe says:

I am not sure about durability, but there is the issue of zinc poisoning. While not usually deadly it can make you very sick. Boilermakers term it as "White Death" and the wacky part is if you drink milk it will neutralize the zinc with the calcium. So, probably not a good Idea for potable water supplies.

Sep 28, 2009. 9:35 AMwoody558 says:

Where can I get sodium Hydroxide and Zinc powder?

May 4, 2010. 5:18 PMAlgag says:

it said drano and galvanized nails

Apr 18, 2010. 7:40 AMCelt says:

Here in USA, if you want to have a memory of an amusement park, a zoo, or even the space center, you can put a penny and two quarters into a machine and have it stretched and embossed. This is a legitamate buissiness.

Mar 9, 2010. 3:00 PMMecharius says:

And thus, we produce Brass!

Feb 7, 2010. 3:38 PMmattcaron says:

lol, galvanized pennies

Nov 12, 2009. 9:01 AMDragonX777 says:

Yeah im trying to find out if i could turn half dollar coin to silver

Jan 21, 2010. 9:21 PMdanlab says:

Unfortunately, a half dollar is mostly nickel (or silver for an older one) which would probably react differently, you could always try and if it didn't work you would only be out 50 cents.

Jan 13, 2010. 2:13 PMHexpigge says:

I dont know if its copper on it. You see, for this you need it to be copper on top :)

Nov 5, 2009. 10:44 AMchip123 says:

at school, we heated a 2p in an altoids tin ontop of a bunsen burner, and then cooled it in water. it turned pink. if anyone knows why, please tell me.

Oct 17, 2009. 12:19 AM

paqrat says:

The gold color is bronze then? I was wondering about using this to replate some old jewelry. I wouldn't want to make anything that wouldn't be safe to wear.
Could the zinc produce any reactions to skin?

Oct 5, 2009. 7:23 PMsheepborg says:

what else can i use besides the sodium hydroxide and drano b/c i dont think i could get either...

Jul 29, 2009. 1:49 AMantienoob says:

well this is a very long coment page and half of it is about the changed coin is illigel or not,but to be frank i really like this and may try it with one of my copper coins from sea world. ps. how long have these coments been going cose a cant be bothered to look lol.

Jul 18, 2009. 10:27 PM555mst555 says:

OMG cooL!!!i'm gonna do it if i have the stuff and i wish that my country uses copper

Jul 6, 2009. 12:29 PMmega man 4bm says:

To all who say this is illegal!!!!!

We did this in science class and I'm guessing we can't do illegal things as part of our curriculum.

This is 100% legal
Oh and I got free desert at school for just showing and old lunch lady my gold penny =)

Jun 25, 2009. 2:15 PMpatapon says:

good luck!

Jun 7, 2009. 9:31 AMmagickaldan says:

In Silver Dollar City they have a store where they cut coins up with small saw right in front of you and sell them. There cool looking

May 30, 2009. 4:03 AMDerin says:

hint:wingdings

Apr 29, 2009. 2:51 PM

Emsaid says:

how do i do it with nails and drano

Mar 17, 2009. 1:43 PMAnthonyB2012 says:

Wow, thats great! Would this treatment only work on pennies (copper), or could it work on another substance such as iron, steel, etc?

Jan 31, 2008. 12:27 PMNE-Phil says:

I enjoyed the Instructable; nice and simple with items most people would have at home. One question, though. Is it legal in the US to change the color of coins? I honestly don't know.

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