Help! any referrals on removing coin jewelry fixtures?

coindeuce

Picked up a gorgeous Lewis and Clark gold commem. dollar today. EF/AU details with no evidence of rub from apparel wear, just a necklace loop attached very cleanly to the rim. I certainly think this one has enough value to warrant an attempt to restore it.

coinman420

it should have a seam where the circle comes together.. it may be where the eyelet is. you should be able to gently pull/pry it open at this seam. hope this helps.


do you mean the eyelet is soldered directly to the coin?

coindeuce

The loop is soldered. Wish it were as simple as removing an external bezel.

coinman420

maybe a good jeweler could remove it if you explain that it has to be done with absolutely no damage to the coin. that is unless you feel up to the task. there are 2 ways to do it. melt the solder or file/sand it off

coindeuce

I'd rather leave this delicate operation to a consummate professional. My only thought was the "freeze" method. Using liquid nitrogen, the coin/loop could be lowered to a temp that I figure might make the solder break away from the coin with a little pressure applied...but still a very risky operation.

mrearlygold

No but I'd like to be offered quality coin jewelry for my Wifes side business.

BlindedByEgo

NCS? I know that they have conserved jewelry mounted gold.

Is the bezel soldered shut, or does the solder touch the gold? If the latter, it will always be an ex-jewelry piece - solder, from my experience with electronic contacts, will never lift from gold without abrasion. It always leaves a skin when removed via heat.

If the bezel is ring soldered with no solder contact with the coin, it is merely a delicate manual operation with a jeweler's saw - bezel metal cut deep enough to pull apart. This I have done before... Very, very slowly and carefully.

Good luck!

coindeuce

Thanks for the recommend to NCS. I don't expect they would attempt to do the removal of the loop, which is directly soldered to the edge, but they probably could restore the surface of the edge of the coin if the loop could to be removed without using heat. That is why I thought of the cryogenic treatment. The rapid drop in temp.(and consequent contraction of the bimetalic bond) could conceivably weaken the solder bond, especially if the coins' surface wasn't thoroughly cleaned with a solvent or if no flux was applied prior to soldering the necklace loop on. Any metallurgists out there with an opinion?

majorbigtime

The problem with your theory is that the solder may have entered into the coin and you may end up removing part of the edge. I'd remove the loop with a Dremel tool, gently file the edge and ever-so-gently try to restore the edge reeding with a file

MAD4MORGANS

I would be tempted to use one of these instant heat soldering tools to quickly heat the loop and melt the solder holding the loop to the coin. Generating the heat that quickly should only concentrate the heat to the loop and solder itself with the coin not receiving much of any heat.

If there is any residual solder on the coin's edge, I would think you could use a piece of wire braid wicking material to absorb the solder by placing the wick against the coin's edge and heating the wick material with the soldering pen over the site still keeping the coin from receiving any direct heat.

Here is a thread asking about the same thing when I did a google search. They talk about some chemical that you may be able to do some research on. I would think if this chemical is a player, a small amount on a q-tip against any remaining solder film may work with a follow-up rinse of distilled water. Thread

eBay - Cold Heat Soldering Tool

You might try it on a test junk coin before using it on your good one.

Terry

Conder101

The answers here show experience with soldering for electronics. Soldering jewelry is a bit different. Forget the cold heat soldering iron of the wire desoldering wicking. They work fine for electronics where you are working at around 455 degrees. But the gold solder doesn't melt until 1200 to 1300 degrees. Roughly twice the temperature your soldering irons will reach. You'll need a torch iron and at those temperatures you run the risk of the wicking braid melting or cooling the solder so quickly it solders the braid to the coin. I'm not sure what kind of problems you might have oxidation of the copper in the alloy from the heat and whether you will need fluxin or not.

Frankly I would consult a good jeweler for advice before I tried doing anything with it. Make sure you explain to the jeweler exactly what you would need done and now any damage or change to the coin would need to be held to an absolute minimum.