# Half Moon Gold Coin Attempt



## lazersteve (Feb 27, 2011)

I made my first attempt a pouring a coin shape ingot today. I hastily fabricated a graphite mold that would produce a coin shaped ingot without doing any volume calculations to size my mold.

I poured just under two troy ounces of twice refined gold thinking I would surely fill the mold. 

Here are the results:







The half-moon above is about 3/16" thick and 1-1/2" in diameter. I melted the gold using a standard MAPP torch in a silica dish with the bottom of the dish insulated with kaowool in a firebrick mini-furnace. What you see is exactly how it came out of the coin mold.

It was fun to pour and I'm disappointed that I only filled the makeshift mold halfway, but is sure is pretty. My wife won't let go of it!

I'll re-size the coin mold cavity and try again later.

I guess i can still use this one for casting silver discs

Steve


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## Lonnie (Feb 27, 2011)

Thats beautiful Steve !! Can't wait to see the results after you resize the mold .


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## lazersteve (Feb 27, 2011)

Here's the second attempt with a smaller diameter coin mold.

I call it the "Holy Hand Grenade" at least until I trim the sprue!:






I added some of the gold that failed to make it into the last attempt is why the weight is different.

The mold had to be broken as I was in such a rush (it's getting dark here) that I did not properly bore the sprue hole out so that it would not key.

Steve


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## Drewbie (Feb 27, 2011)

Nice.

I'd hang on to that in case any killer rabbits approach.


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## dtectr (Feb 27, 2011)

Drewbie said:


> Nice.
> 
> I'd hang on to that in case any killer rabbits approach.


 "take ye the Holy Hand Grenade and count ye to three ..." 8)


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## Anonymous (Feb 27, 2011)

dtectr said:


> "take ye the Holy Hand Grenade and count ye to three ..."


Or I will blow thee to the moon.


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## AuMINIMayhem (Mar 1, 2011)

lazersteve said:


> Here's the second attempt with a smaller diameter coin mold.
> 
> I call it the "Holy Hand Grenade" at least until I trim the sprue!:




:lol: :lol: :lol: 

"And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, "O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy. And the Lord did grin. And the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths, and carp and anchovies, and orangutans and breakfast cereals, and fruit-bats..."



Actually, the top portion looks a bit like one of those old egyptian style scarab pieces.. 8) I quite like it! :mrgreen:


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## parrothead (Mar 1, 2011)

Have you trimmed it yet? Would like to see the finished product.


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## glondor (Mar 1, 2011)

I like it. What is the diameter and thickness of the round? One of my goals, (if I ever get back to the lab) is to pour 2 ounce rounds and with a sharp cold chisel and a few judicious hammer blows score the rounds like a "pieces of eight" coin. Each piece would be approximately 1/4 ounce. (if broken off). Just for fun.


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## AuMINIMayhem (Mar 2, 2011)

I would love, love, LOVE to either make or buy a coin press and learn how to make my own "coinage". I think it'd be pretty kick-ass if someone could create a die set to make "official" Gold Refining Forum coins, with the weight, Karat or assay fineness and the member's name on it who the gold belongs to. (ie: say Lazersteve sent me an ounce and I would stamp it with some logo and "Lazersteve 24k .999(or whatever it is) pure" etc. etc. How cool would that be, if one of our members did that as a service?.. :idea:


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## elfixx (Mar 2, 2011)

I could do it as long as you supply the embossing and blanking dies and your coin or bar doesn't exeed 2 square inch in surface.


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## stihl88 (Mar 2, 2011)

I got my self one of these for making coin rings a while back and it should work great for pre-cutting the blanks.
Actually, the one hat i got was all steel but with this one you can see what your doing and i know of people who use it for making coin rings so it is a proven product also.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/9-Piece-Punch-and-Die-Set-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem230d97f002QQitemZ150551916546QQptZMotorsQ5fAutomotiveQ5fTools


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## elfixx (Mar 2, 2011)

I do have a set of die similar to this, the major thing is actualy the embossing die and collar. Plus, it would be increadibly expansive to get a set of die for every member who would like to get coin minted with their name on them.


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## dtectr (Mar 2, 2011)

lazersteve said:


> I made my first attempt a pouring a coin shape ingot today. I hastily fabricated a graphite mold that would produce a coin shaped ingot without doing any volume calculations to size my mold.
> 
> I poured just under two troy ounces of twice refined gold thinking I would surely fill the mold.
> 
> ...


Steve, it would take very little work on the half moon piece to do a "Man in the Moon" style piece, with a tube-set diamond for an eye ... hmmm!
Georges Braque, Picasso's contemporary did a piece he called, uniquely enough "Luna". It was 18k but no where near that size. I'll have to see if I can find a pic of it for comparison.


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## lazersteve (Mar 2, 2011)

I have access to some nice marking and cutting lasers.

I'm toying with the idea of using the cutting laser to create a nice mold that I can cast the gold into which leaves the surface textured with my logo and purity information.

Steve


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## AuMINIMayhem (Mar 10, 2011)

lazersteve said:


> I have access to some nice marking and cutting lasers.
> 
> I'm toying with the idea of using the cutting laser to create a nice mold that I can cast the gold into which leaves the surface textured with my logo and purity information.
> 
> Steve



Well?.. quit toying around already! :mrgreen: Actually, that would be really cool. 

Perhaps a GRF coin contest is in order in the future?.. Winner based on design, repeatability and over-all "sex-appeal".. just a thought. :idea: 8) :mrgreen:


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## joem (Mar 12, 2011)

do you say, design? 8)


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