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Do you have a quarter from 1964 or before? If you do, it is made of silver. You can turn that coin into a nice silver band using a spoon, a drill, and a metal file.
A quarter will yield a small ring, size ~7 or less. You can get a larger size but the ring will be very skinny. If you want a larger size ring, a Kennedy half dollar will work well. Again, anything 1964 and earlier will be silver.
Materials needed:
-Silver quarter
-spoon
-drill
-metal file
Optional but recommended
-Vice grips
-dremel
A quarter will yield a small ring, size ~7 or less. You can get a larger size but the ring will be very skinny. If you want a larger size ring, a Kennedy half dollar will work well. Again, anything 1964 and earlier will be silver.
Materials needed:
-Silver quarter
-spoon
-drill
-metal file
Optional but recommended
-Vice grips
-dremel
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Signing UpStep 1Find a silver quarter
I was lucky enough to find two silver quarters in my change, but unless you are looking, you may not find one. Any quarter from 1964 and earlier should be silver. They are much lighter in color than newer quarters. I've read you can use the the sandwiched coins, but the metal is harder and it wouldn't be a silver ring. You can also buy one at a coin dealer for a couple dollars.
DO NOT buy an expensive silver coin for this, you will be destroying it.
DO NOT buy an expensive silver coin for this, you will be destroying it.
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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, it's okay to make a ring from a quarter as long as you don't go around claiming it is a rare silver dollar or just a regular silver dollar.
I understand what you are saying Sir, but how can one be out of something they do not have or never purchased?
and you are so right....people need to really look at the coinage & maybe even look in to the background of the coinage they wish to destroy BEFORE they destroy it.
Crazy as this may sound, when I started out doing Jewelry work, I used a tack hammer(like you would buy at the local hardware store) because I didn't have the $$ to buy the correct tools.
Like Target022 says though, go s-l-o-l-w-l-y. it will show in your work if you rush through it. better quality takes time.
A rock tumbler can do some amazing work to smooth out roughness & give it that "professional" look.
I have made other stuff in the past, put it in the tumbler for upto 2 weeks straight & it came out looking like an expensive piece of jewelry.
Now not everything will take 2 weeks in a tumbler. it depends on the type of metal, the density of the metal, the size, & lastly, how sweet you want it to look. I'm a perfectionist at heart, so everything has to be "just so" for me.
I think the hammering has very little, if anything, to do with it.
As I said, this is only a guess.
Looks good though. Nice work.
how many average Joes or Janes would actually believe you anyhow in this day & age??
my guess is, unless they knew you well, they would look at you & say,
"yeah Right. get lost you jerk!"
but this is just 1 man's opinion....
TY for posting that Ma'am...I never knew about that.
Drilling the hole is the hardest part.
My first one, I drilled a small hole and then bored it out.
Very slow, and, I lost most of the silver (I was going to melt it down)
The second ring, I tried to drill many small holes around the edge.
I broke many bits this way, but , I think it might be the best way
to go about it.
Once I had a small hole drilled, I then used a reamer bit to slowly
open the hole. (diamond coated dental bits)
Like I said earlier very slow, and all I had left of the center
was silver dust.
On the second ring, I drilled a LOT of holes around the edge
of the coin, and then played connect the dots with the reamer.
So I still have the coin center to melt down later.
I thought it was pretty funny, not so sure about him...