Have you tried forging yourself a coin? You can start by forging smaller coins before moving to complicated ones. To forge a coin, you will have to take simple and exact steps.
Coins serve as a medium of exchange. Most coins are currencies of countries. Aside from being money, coins are also useful for many other things.
Some coins are useful as decorations while some are for honorary awards. Some coins show symbols or membership of a group or society. At the same time, some coins are useful as an ornament.
Of all the uses of a coin, it is most useful as a currency. To forge a coin, you have to know how to go about forging it.
Essentials
You need some tools for this forging process. These tools will help you in forging your coin successfully.
Chisel
Forge
Hammer
Wire brush
Instructions on How to Forge a Coin
Step 1: Get Your Materials
To forge a coin, you have to get your materials ready. It is essential to note that forging a coin is more engraving than beating and heating. For this process, you will need;
Quick Steps
- Hollow steel tube (should allow the entry of the circular plate and billet)
- A circular steel plate (the size of a coin).
- Steel billet (the steel billet should be able to fit perfectly well into the hollow steel tube).
Note that all of these materials should be in the same size range.
Step 2: Engrave Your Steel Billet
This part is the most tedious and time-consuming process of forging a coin. It will take a lot of time, and you should not hasten it. To be cautious when engraving you have to;
Quick Steps
- Create a drawing of the image you want on your coin. You should create two images for the coin; one will serve as the head while the other will serve as the tail.
- Place the drawing on the surface of the billet.
- Transfer the drawing to the billet. To transfer the drawing, you have to beat the drawing against the billet with a small type of chisel. You should beat the drawing along with the outlines to get the perfect shape of the drawing.
- After having your outline on the billet, you should start engraving your shape on it. You should know that whatever you engrave on the billet will be the opposite of what you will have on your coin. So, you should engrave the opposite of your image on the billet.
Step 3: Heat Your Circular Steel Plate
Its time you heat your circular steel plate. You should place the plate in the forge to heat it. After a couple of minutes, the plate should be red-hot so you should retrieve it from the forge.
Step 4: Transfer the Design to Your Coin
The essence of heating the plate is to make it easy to transfer design. Now, you have to transfer the design from the billet to the plate while it is still hot. To transfer the design, you should;
Quick Steps
- Get the hollow tube ready and place it on an anvil.
- Get the hot steel plate with a crucible.
- Place the steel plate on the hollow tube. Allow the steel plate to rest flat on the tube.
- Insert your engraved billet into the tube.
- Hit the billet once with force. It will transfer the design on the billet to the steel plate.
- Remove the billet and turn the steel plate to the other plain side.
- Use the other design on the billet to serve as the head and tail.
- Follow the routine and hit the billet with a hammer to transfer the design to the steel plate.
Now, you have your coin with its head and tail design.
Step 5: Brush the Coin to make it Smooth
You already have your coin. So, you should brush it with a wire brush to make it smooth and shiny. You can also polish the coin to make it sparkle.
Now, you have successfully forged yourself a coin. You can move to forge a more complicated design after perfecting simple designs.
FAQs
Question
Is it illegal to forge a coin?
It is not illegal to make a coin. Anyone can forge him/herself a coin. It is only illegal when you forge yourself a currency, especially when you do not have the permission to do so.
Once you start forging a coin to serve as a currency, it is then illegal. You can forge a coin to serve as an ornament, symbol, logo, etc. Forging a coin for these purposes is not illegal.
Question
Is there any other way I can forge my coin apart from engraving?
There are many other ways to forge a coin. One of the easiest and common way is engraving. It is easier to forge a coin through engraving than to forge it through any other means.
As the level of professionalism increases, you will discover different ways to forge a coin. But for a beginner, engraving should best suit you.
Question
Is steel the best metal for forging a coin?
Since durability, strength, and toughness is not a factor to consider here, you can forge your coin with any metal. It isn’t compulsory; it should be steel. You can forge your coin from gold, silver, bronze, iron, brass, etc.
As long as you can forge the metal, you can use it. Although steel makes a very good forging material, you can as well make use of other metals to forge your coin.
Video
Warnings
When forging your coin, you should follow safety precautions to avoid hazards. Some safety precautions include;
- Make use of hearing protection.
- Ensure you keep short hair and if you have long hair, always tie it to the back
- Make use of protective gears.
- Always put on safety goggles, especially when forging.
- Be careful when handling tools and equipment.
