Re: Struck Coin Blanks ???

On 28/11/2024 16:00, Joe Gwinn wrote:

On Wed, 27 Nov 2024 16:33:48 -0700, Bob La Londe <none@none.com99>
wrote:
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On 11/27/2024 4:17 PM, Clare Snyder wrote:

On Wed, 27 Nov 2024 15:55:48 -0700, Bob La Londe <none@none.com99>
wrote:
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On 11/27/2024 3:29 PM, Joe Gwinn wrote:

On Wed, 27 Nov 2024 13:57:58 -0700, Bob La Londe <none@none.com99>
wrote:
>

Every since watching a woman dressed in pirate garb at a renaissance
fair (or faire if you prefer) place a blank in a set of dies and drop a
heavy weight on it to strike a souvenir coin I have had in the back of
my mind the idea to strike my own coins.  I can certainly make the dies.
    4140 is relatively easy to machine if you know how, and it will harden
"hard enough" for a low production number of from a few hundred to a
couple thousand coins.  I also keep a bit of O1 and W1 on hand for those
cutting tools I can't hand grind from HSS or carbide.  I even have a
propane forge in the back along with a toaster oven for tempering
(although it gets used more for powder coating).
>
I started writing with two questions in mind.
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Where to buy/make coin blanks at the best price?  Not the 10-20 on Ebay
or Amazon, but a couple hundred to a couple thousand at a more
reasonable bulk price.

Many country fair coins were made of soft aluminum.
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Maybe the brass sold for stamped dataplates or tags?
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.<https://identificationtags.com/product/brass-blank-round-tags-with-no-holes/>
>

That's not a bad start.  Unfortunately they also sell end product which
usually means they don't sell for real wholesale pricing.  Its still a
good idea.
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Probably the alloy used for copper pennys can be got.

Getting actual penny copper is not a horrible idea.  I could certainly
do some experiments by going through my change bowl and sorting out the
older real copper pennies to be restamped.  I suppose the zinc pennies
stamp okay, but they may not re-stamp okay.  My end goal is mostly for a
coin "about" the diameter and thickness of a regular classic silver
dollar.
>
Casting copper from old pennies, motors, etc could also be an option,
but that would make it a whole different class of project.  A time and
money thing, and I don't mean the pennies.  Also, my little propane
forge probably isn't up to melting enough copper to be worth while.  Its
fine for one off heat treating projects, but probably not for casting
any quantity.
>
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Hobby stores may have coin-making supplies.

Hmmmmm... I suppose its worth a look to see if Michael's (are they still
in business) or Hobby Lobby has anything.  At the very least I could
read the packaging if they do to see if that generates an other leads.
>

Early Chinese coins were lost-wax cast from bronze.

I don't think casting is really the way I want to go.
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Joe

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-- Bob La Londe
CNC Molds N Stuff

   Do your own "fineblanking" - stamp your blanks from aluminum, copper,
or brass flat stock on a punch press.

I design some punch dies years ago.  Hadn't even considered it for this.
  Its an option, but a big fancy punch press is probably out of my
budget.  I'll have to calculate the shear and see if it can be done with
one of my shop presses or perhaps an improvise drop weight press.

The old-time answer to this is a Fly Press, which are still used.
>
Joe

I was going to suggest one also but as I understand it they're not that common in the US, here in the UK they're quite common. I have one and use it from time to time to punch copper blanks for enamelling, I set-up the tooling so I can quickly punch the blanks one after another from a copper strip. For the coin stamping I was thinking of a drop stamp. An image here https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5757303 from the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter Museum, formerly Smith and Pepper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_and_Pepper . Having toured the museum I didn't see those drop stamps, they're the small ones, but I saw a large one maybe 15' (4.5m) high  and IIRC the side guides were railway track but I can't find an image of it.