A new medium for me.

I've dabbled in many areas of art expression. My latest hobby is making rings from coins.
It is my hope to get good enough at them to someday sell. So far they have been well received among my friends and family.
I've made maybe 20 so far and have given away most. It was only tonight that I decided to take pictures of my work.
That has always been my problem, I would dive into a project and not document the process and later regret it.
I can make them from nickels, quarters, half dollars, silver dollars, and gold dollars.
I have some old quarters that are 90% silver and I'm sitting on those until I can nail them perfectly.

Any way, here are my rings.

Very cool. I like a lot. Would like one of my own country coins more than one from the states but very well done to you, keep on creating.

Thanks for looking.
I plan on getting some foreign coin from ebay.
They have starters for jr. coin collectors, my only thing is I need to research the size of the coin before I buy and those tend to be grab bag.

a reply to: shadow watcher

Beautiful rings! For anyone who may tell you it's breaking the law to make jewelry out of coins, U.S. or foreign.

Here is the definitive answer from Ebay's Q&A section on coin jewelry.

CUT COIN Jewelry Is Coin-Cutting Legal, OK or Illegal?

Is it illegal to cut out coins?
We have all see Cut Coin Jewelry as pendants, or necklaces, in money clips, on earrings, and in belt buckles. Many people see the familiar coin, notice it is a "cut out coin," and then say,

"It's against the law to do that to a coin!"
"Isn’t that illegal to cut out a U.S. Silver Dollar Coin?"
"You can get in trouble for defacing money!"

I hear questions and comments like these every so often after someone sees cut out coins for jewelry. Maybe you too had assumed Cut Coin Jewelry is considered the defacing of the coin, and thus illegal to do so.

Rest assured the cut coins you see here on ebay and ebay express, such as cut-coin money clips or state quarter charm pendants do not violate any U.S. statute provided that the alteration to the coin is not done with fraudulent intent.www.ebay.com...

I hope you have many happy customers in the future...

Des

I am very proud of you. I live in Aotearoa or New Zealand, we have a nice Kiwi ( not th fruit) on our one dollar coin, but have sadly lost our 1 2 and 5 cent coins. I wear a lot of rings including one on my thumb and small ones half way down my fingers, silver is my choice, I am a bit of a magpie. a reply to: shadow watcher

Thanks Des, you've no idea how many times I've explained that the law pertains to making a coin into a higher denomination coin is illegal not cutting a coin.

Cloud buster maybe we can work out some sort of exchange sometime.

Sure... I'm sure I could snail post a few coins to you. I don't know what the coins are made of tho... Def not pure anything. I'm fairly fresh to ats so not sure of the ins and outs of how to send private messages, but message me your address and i will try to send some coins soon, reply to: shadow watcher

Sure hope you don't go to jail...I'm sure this administration is looking for any excuse to increase their police militarization coffers...

How legal is it to use legal tender as your canvas?

Nice work.

Another take…

Is it legal to make jewelry from US coins?

a reply to: intrptr

Thanks for that. If things go forward, I will be citing the snippets posted here.

Found a few more

Those were unpolished, they look antiqued this way I think.
If you note the first one posted above you'll see that I've rounded it a bit.
I've been practicing the rounding for a few days.
It shrinks the ring a full size so I need to make them bigger with that in mind.

Very unique and cool! Great job Shadow!

a reply to: Night Star

hey thanks neighbor!!

What type of tools are needed to make these?

Very cool! I stumbled across a tutorial on how to make these once, it looks somewhat difficult and very time consuming.

a reply to: shadow watcher

If you note the first one posted above you'll see that I've rounded it a bit.
I've been practicing the rounding for a few days.

To my eye, that one is the most appealing. If you don't mind my asking, just how long does it take to make a coin into a rounded final product?

Very very nice and unique!
Are they forged around a mandrel, rolled in a mill or what. I'm a metalsmith and can't figure out your technique.

Do you have gallery representation?

Thanks guys.
I appreciate the feedback.
Here's the technique. I'll link the video from the guy who I learned from.

From Harbor Freight and/or Amazon you can get these things dirt cheap.
punch and die set
Solid steel mandrel
Nylon Mallet
Bll Pein Hammer
Sanding Sponge
Mini Torch
Dapping Block
1 foot of 3/4" pvc pipe schedule 40




The video should explain the process.
I basically hammer on the mandrel.
Each ring varies in time, from a half hour up to two hours depending on the techniques and size of coin.

Very cool Shadow! The video was very interesting. I like making jewelry, but mostly work with beads and simpler techniques. Good luck to you in your jewelry endeavors!