Yin-Yang and Heart fridge magnets from nickels (photos only)

I made two fridge magnets out of nickels, inspired by the work of mrballeng on Instructables.

The nickels were hammered flat, then filed into the correct outlines. I then used paperclips to create the indented lines, and sanded/polished the pieces smooth.  Small neodymium magnets were epoxied to the backs.

The heart was my pilot project, and thus the simplest.  The yin-yang is a bit more complex - I sanded the entire piece with 100-grit paper, then taped over one half of the figure.  I polished the exposed metal, then removed the tape hoping to have a contrast between the halves.  I consider it a success, but it is quite subtle.  You can see the effect best in the last picture where the heart and the yin-yang are juxtaposed on the fridge.

Comments

[themadjeweler]

The US nickel is composed of 75% copper and 25% nickel. The quality (old or new) should not matter as you are sanding the coin down which reveals the shiny inside no matter how old it is. However, there may be some difference between the older nickels which have the more common design of Thomas Jefferson's profiled face and the newer nickels which have the face of Thomas Jefferson looking straight ahead.

[nerd12]

what metal makes up a nickel
is the coin an old one or a new?