Is there are way to make your coins "soft"? Or are these something that simply has to be purchased?

I'll bet if you search for "soft coins" you'll see the posts that discuss it.

What do you mean by soft? I'm just going to guess Pure Silver to be the softest? But I'm not sure?

Frank, no offense, but I'd bet if someone like me who knew computers as well as I do did a Café search, I would too. But I'll bet if I wanted live feed back in which I could reply and respond in an active thread, I'd post a new thread. I didn't ask how to get old threads. If you don't want to answer, don't. But please don't clutter threads I post with a reply as useless as you are implying my question was. If we didn't ask quesions, thisplace wouldn't be a forum anymore, it'd be one big archive, no wouldn't it?

Justin: Soft coins are coins that are worn down in such a way to make them significantly quieter when they touch. Usually shops make them and sell them.

Well said WhiteAngel. This is a forum. In Forums we speak to each other.

White angel... You can sand them with sandpaper or you could use a Dremel Tool..

Either way it is a waste of time... I have tried it with no success, just buy natural soft coins they handle better...

If you are interested, I can sell you the soft coins I made. They just sit in my drawer...

I will sell them to you for the cost of the coins themselves...

PM me...

I guess it's tough to decide which is more important;

The need for knowledge as requested

or the need for attention.

If you want the knowlege... yes it's there accessible via the search.

BTW as Shawn noted there seems to be something about how coins wear over time and getting pitted/grimy and soft edged that is not the same as what you can get using base sanding methods. I too simply went and got some well worn half crowns. Others have gone to using Barber Half dollars or similar.

I take it you don't want rough edges on them? ,after light sanding you can buff them with a cloth wheel on a grinder mandrel using a fine buffing compound

Wow, I never knew that? I always thought Morgans were soft. But do you mean that you can take Morgans to a shop and they can be made softer? But if it's to make them smoother, would you consider slugs? They would not only be smoother but thinner as well.

Jonathan, It's just that I would rather have live people who I can talk to in case I have questions on their replies. And I did a search, and found most topics older and between then and now new techniques could have been developed. It's just frustrating seeing the answers all the time that are just things like "do a search" or "you don't want to do that". People keep giving answers to topics that don't answer the question at all. Imagine the doctor telling you you have a cold, and when you ask him what it is and how to treat it, he tells you to "look it up"!!!
Bill Palmer even wrote an article about this thing, I'm pretty sure.

Funny thing is that if you actually LOOK at the coins you can see most of the places where they hit and so the rest is tooling. No small feat though as you will likely need a lathe etc. Other folks have simply gone to re-mill the edges on old worn coins to make them easier to handle. Word is still out on whether a rock tumbler will do the job reliably.

Most of us are in it for the long haul and we can usually post to older threads when pertinent findings come to light.

:)

A rock tumbler....I'll have to try that one, think those ones at walmart for kids would work?

You can smooth them out while you walk ,jog or work. my keys are smoothed out after years of carrying them in my pocket ,I work on many things alwase moving so the keys rub on each other constantly.coins will do the same thing.the rock tumbler with the right medium will do a great job to .the gun shops have a vibrating cleaner for cartriges works by slowly churning the medium & shells in a tub simular to a top loader washing machine

The easiest way to get soft coins is from a coin dealer, or off of Ebay. What you want is JUNK silver. Silver coins that are so old and worn that they offer no additional value to a collector. I'm talking about walking liberties, etc. If you want soft coins from Kennedy halves, you will have a bit more of a problem Originally, they did make these out of silver, so you might be able to find some worn ones that work fine. Modern coins, however, are made out of a harder metal than silver, and I don't think they will ever get as soft as you would like - they will always be a wee bit noisier.

Best of luck!

-Steve

WhiteAngel

Clear nail varnish.

Apply thin layers to the faces of the coin (avoid the milled edges). Use as many layers as you wish to get the right effect.

In my experience, this produces a much softer coin than physical methods. Also, you keep the milling (which is a problem with a rock tumbler), you don't lose definition on the coin, and you can adjust the softness to your own requirements.

The smell lingers, but if you leave your treated coins in the open air for a while, that goes away. Also, the handling and feel takes a little getting used to, but that also goes away with time.

Hope that helps.

Ian

If you do what Ian suggests above you can get the lacquer to fill in the coin so it's almost flat. Then it's pretty much like handling a plain poker chip but you still have the milled edges. Great for parlor/stage.

Jonathan's absolutely right, as usual. The softening works by raising the troughs of the coins sculpture, rather than lowering the peaks by wearing them down.

The parlor/stage bit is interesting. I use my chemically-soft coins for a formal close-up/stand-up set. Customers have handled them once or twice, and the only comment I've had (once) was; "They're warm" (which I'm sure relates to the metal's conductivity being cut down by the varnish). So I'm not sure the treatment wouldn't also work for close-up softness (if you get my drift).

Anyway. At the very least, when you need to rehearse (and don't we all?), this is a cheap way of starting out.

Hope this all helps.

Ian

I was thinking that really smooth coins can be hard to palm or clip? especally with the type of hands I have from working on machinery ,the callous makes it more difficult to hold the coins ,I do use hand cream to soften my hands,but not to oily so the coins slide around,I find it helpful if theres a sharp edge on the coins to get a good hold. smooth Sacagawea can be a little hard to manipulate,I find a half dollar coin works comfortable in my hands,and I have been trying many other things to hold in Classic palm like mower parts I use at work,kinda fun plus gives me Ideas for some fun routines
Chuck

I think I'll try some of the nail polish and see how that does..

Nail polish might make them too slipery ,I discovered that rough surface is the best. While classic plaming 2 rusty John Deere mower blade adapter washers.I could still hold them with my hand almost flat! I`ll work on some sand paper type finishes on coins ,be great for people starting out