Our colorized coin rings are really special, so I thought I'd show you how I make them.
They are available for sale here:
Colorized Morgan Silver Dollar Coin Rings
Punching the Hole
Using a 3/4" punch, I center the coin I plan to use for the colorized coin ring and then either use a hammer or my 6-ton press to cut the hole in the coin. In these photos, I'm using a Morgan Silver Dollar for the colorized coin ring. I use a punch available from Jason's Works.
Shaping the Ring
Right now, the ring just looks like a flat circle of metal with a hole in the center of it. Here's where the magic happens. I'm going to start shaping it using a series of dies and my press. The initial pressing uses a cone shape to begin stretching the metal, and I'm going to do it before I anneal the coin.
Annealing
Annealing is a process that softens the metal and makes it more pliable. It's done by heating the coin to a dull red glow and then quenching it quickly in water. This allows me to work the metal without it cracking.
Continuing to Shape the Coin Ring
I'm going to continue to shape the coin into a ring by alternating pressing with annealing. It's really important to shape it gradually. Since the coin has a pattern I want to retain on the outside, I use soft padding between the die and the coin. The ring size is also dependent on this process. Because the ring is sized before it is colorized, resizing the ring after it has been made can damage the finish.
Finishing the Coin Ring
Once the ring has been shaped and sized, I carve out some of the silver from inside the ring to make it more wearable. Finally, it's time to sand and clean the ring so it is soft, smooth, and comfortable.
I don't want to damage any of the design on the outside, however, so I just use fine steel wool on the outside and then carefully clean the whole ring using steam and acetone.
Now, the ring is ready for the powder coat process that gives it color. We'll cover that in our next blog post!
Want to see this process in more detail? I have a two-part video available for you to view on YouTube.
Watch Part 1: Crafting the Coin Ring
Watch Part 2: Powder Coating and Colorizing the Coin Ring
You can also visit the CoinCrafters YouTube channel for more videos.