Hi all,
I’m a hobby jeweler looking to learn the art of coin cutting. I have
been making various coin jewelry using bezels and such, but am
facinated by coin cutting artists.
I’m looking for tips, mentors, training classes or whatever help I
can get. I have all of the required tools drill press, saw,
files…
Thanks in advance,
Steve
@steve4
Steve,
In 1979, as a bench jeweler in Maui, Hawaii, I met a guy who
traveled the world and made his living as a coin cutter. He also
claimed to be the great-grandson of Lionell Barrimore, incidentally.
Besides the mandatory sack of foreign coins and lots of sawblades,
he had a novel benchpin/coin holder he traveled the world with. He
had a pair of 6 in.strap hinges, connected by a thin steel cable. The
first strap hinge was lined with leather, and slotted on the leading
edges. This hinge he clamped down to the bench or table top he was
cutting on, and this was connected by a cable to the other hinge on
the floor, which served as a foot pedal. While cutting a coin, he
would hold the coin between the jaws of the top hinge by pushing down
on the “foot pedal” hinge, which pulled the top of the "cutting"
hinge down to clamp the coin without pressure from his hand. In this
way, he could use the hand opposite his saw hand to position the coin
in the jaws of the cutting hinge/bench pin, while the pressure needed
to hold the coin was generated by his foot. Very clever!
I saw another coin cutter in Mexico, years ago, who mounted his
simple bench pin on the end of a short length of broomstick, which he
propped between his legs as he sat and sawed, sitting on a short
stool. Very effective, and he did some great work, too.
You’ve got to admire someone who can take his skill on the road with
a minimum of tools, and manage to make a living at it.
—Jay Whaley
Ok I’ll bite, what the devil is a “coin cutter”?
Cheers,
Trevor F.
in The City of Light
Visit TouchMetal.com at http://www.touchmetal.com
Trevor,
Ok I'll bite, what the devil is a "coin cutter"?
The real question is not “what” but who is a “coin cutter”. Coin
cutters are people who usually work in front of the public, often at
street fairs or similar venues. They take coins and, with a jewelers
saw, cut out the background areas in coins, leaving a border and the
head or building or other subject matter of the coin. Most of these
people can do very intricate saw work. I watched one working in the
Back Lakes district of Beijing this past July. He had picked a corner
where there was a lot of pedestrian traffic, set up a very portable,
very small bench and began working and attracted an audience and a
few customers. These artisans can be found all over our planet.
Joel
Joel Schwalb
@Joel_Schwalb
A “coin cutter” is a craftsman who takes coins and pierces out the
images in coins, like the eagle on the reverse of a coin, or a panda
on a Chinese coin, or a kiwi on a coin from New Zealand. A drill bit
is used to make small holes in the coin to get the sawblade into the
different areas of the coin to be sawn out. Usually the rim of the
coin is left intact, as well as the image. Sometimes the cutter will
pierce out around the letters or numbers on the coin as well, so they
are seen as well as the image. You have to really be good with a
jeweler’s saw! They normally don’t need to do any hand filing at all.
Usually a jump ring is put through the coin, and it is sold as a
pendant, for example. I have a quarter that has been carefully cut
around Washington’s head on both sides, and a groove filed aroung the
outside of the coin into which a small rubber band is fit. What you
do with it is, in a bar sometime, you ask your drinking buddies if
they want to bet you you can push a quarter into an empty beer
bottle. You can even show them the quarter, which looks like a normal
quarter upon casual inspection. After you take their bets, you push
the quarter into the bottle’s top, which “folds” the quarter, so it
fits into the bottle, and then springs back into the shape of a
quarter again inside the bottle. Magic! I’ve always thought I’d hang
on to that trick quarter in case I’m down and out and need to make my
living in a dive bar somewhere…
Jay Whaley
After you take their bets, you push the quarter into the bottle's top, which "folds" the quarter, so it fits into the bottle, and then springs back into the shape of a quarter again inside the bottle. Magic!
Jay, this sounds like a good trick to me - but, how, I ask, do you
retrieve the quarter? Or is this only a one time trick? If it is,
you’d best get lots for it.
K
Kay,
As I have not actually tried the "folding quarter in a beer bottle"
trick yet ( I am saving this for my next career, don’t forget), but
I have 3 ideas on how to get my folding quarter out of the beer
bottle again:
Carry with me a long pair of tweezers to retrieve it out of the
bottle.
Break the bottle and retrieve the coin out of the glass shards.
Make a side bet with the women in the bar that I can get it out
with my tongue?
( Hey, when you’re down and out, you have to get creative to make
your living, you know?)
Jay Whaley