DetectingWales.com

Has anyone ever 'repaired' a broken hammered coin at all (IE: two broken pieces - clean break)? Can it be done? Glued, soldered, taken to a jeweler?

I've got a charles shilling and eddy 3rd half groat both from this year and both needed straightening so I'm hoping to hear more from this thread  as I ain't got the confidence to sort em out.

I've never tried gluing or soldering two halves of a coin back together - although some jewellers can do a fantastic job.

I've straightened many coins (I won't admit to how expensive some of them have been). I've ruined only a few - usually ones with a very tight angled bend - i.e not so much folded over, but folded over and flat.

I don't use heat if I can avoid it, as I really don't like sweated coins, and it's really hard (at least with the blow torch I have) to get an even heat- maybe if I ever get a proper furnace I will try that.

For a home repair a decent super glue seems to be the way forward, although I would use one that can be dissolved in something like acetone.

I have a few broken romans (they came broken....) I might experiment. I'd probably shy away from hammereds because of how thin they are.

I’ve just bumped ‘about as bad as they get’ the coin was in half (what was left of it) repaired with a standard super glue, the coin was in a mess so there was nothing to lose, it is still together so I would do it with any future broken coins.

Hi Greg, any chance you can upload a picture to this thread just to show others what the end result looks like?

Thanks Probono for your comments. I also may experiment with a really worn out coin I have, so nothing to loose.

Have a look at the previous post that I bumped titled ‘About as bad as they get’ below this post, there is a picture of the coin on that, if you need a better one let me know, but I find it very difficult to post photos on this site.
The match on my coin was not very good, I think you may get a better result if your coin fits together nicely, only tip is don’t use too much glue.

I've never stuck two pieces of a coin back together as I can't see the point really. I have straightened a couple of hammered though, used hot water and gentle pressure, but you do risk breaking them so be very careful.
Have a look on you tube, someones probably made a video on the subject, good luck

N8 you have been lucky, I have straightened about 10 hammered silver coins, I would not recommend hot water to other readers as it will not change the structure of the metal and risks fracture, it needs to heated to about 1100 F (dull red) and then quenched, this makes the metal soft and allows the coin to be straightened a few millimetres, this action stresses the metal and it must be repeated every few millimetres until straight, then do a final heat but this time leave it cool naturally so that the crystalline structure is aligned.

Hi Greg,
Sorry, I've not gone to the extremes that you have, I've simply straightened a Hammy that was a bit bent, not doubled over or anything that extreme, just bent. I've soaked it in boiling water then gently applied pressure to flatten them out. Worked fine for me but I'm not recommending it, just saying what I've done in the past and have stated that you may break the coin so its down to the owners preference.
Cheers
N8