How to make a coin?

[Demosthenes]

How would one go about making a cast or stamped coin? I'd like to make one but I don't know how.  The metal isn't very important

[jringling]

You could always etch one...

[Andi]

This may sound like an odd suggestion, but you might want to talk to some viking reenactors.  There's a guy in Missouri who made them over a campfire, using a mold of some sort and melted metal.  i have no idea what it was that he melted or how he got it hot enough, or what he used for a mold, but I think it might have been carved stone for the mold.  He said the method he used was common among Vikings, if I'm remembering right. it was really quite nifty to watch.

Beyond that, though, if you don't care about the material, you might try metallic polymer clay or metal clay with a basic mold.  If it's small, I think you can torch fire the metal clay.  Polymer clay you can bake.

[Dave the Troll]

How many do you want to make?

I've made them in the past by creating a silicon rubber mould and casting model metal.  We made a couple of hundred that way.

It requires few tools and no heat source that you don't have in you kitchen.

[Demosthenes]

I don't want to make many, just a few to give to friends and such.  It's for the 'Shire Society' and I wanted it to be an alternate history piece. 'The Shire' is New Hampshire

Even more than the coins, I want to make an old style dollar, but I haven't got the artistic talent for it.

[Andi]

Seems like you should be find that online somewhere and print it off...

[JingleJoe]

I once made some of my own currency by filing off the design on copper tuppences and electrolytically etching a design in them.

[itsakobold]

I've made coins by striking them.

You have a two part die, a top and bottom, line the metal up on them, hit them with a big hammer, and there you go. It takes some getting used to, and I was using dies somebody else had made, but it worked.

[peps1]

Etching is going to be the quickies, and easiest way to do it. could do this with electrolysis or more simply with a chemical etchant like Ferric chloride.

Coin size brass disks are really easy to find too, and there are a tone of people on here who could talk you though it step by step.

[jringling]

I will echo the etching route... one or two sided...

The picture doesn't show the depth and these were turned into pins, but they felt like playing with gold coins before I put the pinback on...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Demosthenes]

That Celtic society one is pretty cool! And I'm in Baltimore, not all that far off!

[JingleJoe]

Get Mr Ringling there to etch you some coins

[Rao]

It really depends on whether you want them out of metal or resin. Resin is probably the easiest to mass produce and an individual should be able to do most of it out of a home work area. (ventilated). For coins you will want to make the prototype coin. (heads and tails) OR You can just do a one sided coin. If you go to a ren fair or pirate festival in your area some of the vendors sell one sided doubloons. just makes the process easier. Push the prototype into the clay four or five times or more. Makes it easier so you don't have to make really small batches of resin. Some types of resin you can even mix metal powders into so one the casting is cured you can buff it with some 0000 steel wool and have it turn out looking just like metal. Or even buy the more expensive pre-mixed metalic resins. Or if you make a silicon mould you can spray paint the mould before casting and it will transfer to the casting.

If you want to go with metal then etching is probably your best be, as a press is difficult and expensive to make a master.

Seriously do a google search and read instructables, how tos, youtube videos. Actually you can look up almost anything on youtube and see a video how too.

[Narsil]

For making resin coins there are advantages in making up a putty by mixing the resin with talc filler and metal powder and press moulding it rather than pouring it. This means you can do double sided coins without having to clean up sprue afterwards or where to place the sprue in the first place without interfering with the design. Filled resins will also make for a stringer finished product.

You could also make coins in two halves (ie heads and tails) and glued them together afterwards.

[akumabito]

If you'd need many, you can have a looksy at companies like this: http://www.challengecoinsplus.com/pricing.html

[rovingjack]

really easy would be to buy sculpey in metalics, two rubber erasers. carve a stamp of you design in each eraser. for a rough edged coin just put a free form disk between stamps and press. Then bake.

For regular or smooth edges, you can use someth like a deckle.

You can also use dark sculpey, and paint (or rub and buff) them metallic.

Pewter is a low melt metal that might be good for this.

The same methods can be applied to pewter as to the deckled polymer clay approach. Just use Higher temperater tolerant materials.

There are other ways but those are easiest, I think.

Where abouts in NH? Manchester concord region or further north toward littleton or Colebrook?

[HR]

A simple way to make metal coins is to make a master out of millyput or something similar. You then need to make the mould, this can be done several different ways, you can press the original into kuttlefish bone (as in the stuff you give your budgy ) but I find you dont get much definition. The second way is to make a mould using plaster of paris, good but not that durable, however so long as you keep the original safe you can always make another. The best way (obviously) is with ruber mould making resin, its hard waring and flexible but a bit more expensive. Then just get some pewter, old tankerds and the like are a good source, melt in an old pan over a camping gas fire, and pore into the mould, repeat as needed.
Coins, both cast and struk are something I make as part of my living, so if you need any other pointers just let me know.

[HR]

Forgot to say, dust the mould with talcum powder before poring in the pewter, this makes getting the casting out much easier.