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The coin abuse thread
adamlaneus
Posts: 6,969 ✭✭✭
We have lots of non-numismatic uses for coins in our society. Very handy, these metal discs.
You can measure tread depth with a lincoln cent. Even a staunch numismatist would agree that a zincoln couldn't be damaged too much by such a use.
What about other uses?
The nickel screwdriver:
When you deal with photography and tripods, you are presented with these big screws with big wide slots. Big enough to fit just about any coin you might want to use as a screwdriver. I keep a worn junk nickel handy for use as a photographic screwdriver.
The half dollar counterweight:
Ever since one of my ceiling fans fell (previous owners did not know what a set screw was)...I have a terrible imbalance...and my fan wobbles too! It works, but it is bent. Low, and behold...tape one Kennedy Clad Half Dollar to one of the blades and it is perfectly balanced. No wobble! Use good tape! At top fan speed, they can go flying if they let go!
The quarter anvil:
There are times when you need a hard metal surface. Let's say you are camping. Okay, car camping...you are more likely to have change on you while car camping. And you are called upon to fix some little intricate gizmo critical to your camping comfort. You need a hard surface in order to force some nasty metal part to do what it doesn't want to do. Everything around you is made of wood or crumbly rock. You don't want to scratch up your car. Aha! Just whip out a quarter and you have a small portable anvil!
The dime spacer:
You have a nice photographic set up with that camera stand, camera, lens, lights, etc. But even though you have the gear to make everything square and focus should not be a problem, you find that coins themselves are never quite square within the gasket. And thus you often need to shim a slab a bit in order to get the coin perfectly square to the lens. A thin dime or two will do the job.
I've heard that folks, long ago, use to slip a silver coin into their milk to keep it fresher.
In the currency world, i've heard of dollar bills being usable as very temporary bike tire tube patches.
I wonder what slabs could be used for? Gambling chits for poker night? Coasters for small cups of espresso? One of those vibrating football games, but really miniature?
You can measure tread depth with a lincoln cent. Even a staunch numismatist would agree that a zincoln couldn't be damaged too much by such a use.
What about other uses?
The nickel screwdriver:
When you deal with photography and tripods, you are presented with these big screws with big wide slots. Big enough to fit just about any coin you might want to use as a screwdriver. I keep a worn junk nickel handy for use as a photographic screwdriver.
The half dollar counterweight:
Ever since one of my ceiling fans fell (previous owners did not know what a set screw was)...I have a terrible imbalance...and my fan wobbles too! It works, but it is bent. Low, and behold...tape one Kennedy Clad Half Dollar to one of the blades and it is perfectly balanced. No wobble! Use good tape! At top fan speed, they can go flying if they let go!
The quarter anvil:
There are times when you need a hard metal surface. Let's say you are camping. Okay, car camping...you are more likely to have change on you while car camping. And you are called upon to fix some little intricate gizmo critical to your camping comfort. You need a hard surface in order to force some nasty metal part to do what it doesn't want to do. Everything around you is made of wood or crumbly rock. You don't want to scratch up your car. Aha! Just whip out a quarter and you have a small portable anvil!
The dime spacer:
You have a nice photographic set up with that camera stand, camera, lens, lights, etc. But even though you have the gear to make everything square and focus should not be a problem, you find that coins themselves are never quite square within the gasket. And thus you often need to shim a slab a bit in order to get the coin perfectly square to the lens. A thin dime or two will do the job.
I've heard that folks, long ago, use to slip a silver coin into their milk to keep it fresher.
In the currency world, i've heard of dollar bills being usable as very temporary bike tire tube patches.
I wonder what slabs could be used for? Gambling chits for poker night? Coasters for small cups of espresso? One of those vibrating football games, but really miniature?
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www.brunkauctions.com
You could put a penny behind a blow fuse (in the old days when fuses screwed in) to get the juice working again.
A woman can use a coin for birth control - just hold it between the knees at all times. lol
<< <i>You can use a warnout dime to check spark plug gaps.
You could put a penny behind a blow fuse (in the old days when fuses screwed in) to get the juice working again.
A woman can use a coin for birth control - just hold it between the knees at all times. lol
The coin behind the fuse can be pretty dangerous.
It defeats the purpose of having a fuse which is to deal with overloads on that circuit.
JT
I collect all 20th century series except gold including those series that ended there.
<< <i>
<< <i>You can use a warnout dime to check spark plug gaps.
You could put a penny behind a blow fuse (in the old days when fuses screwed in) to get the juice working again.
>>
The coin behind the fuse can be pretty dangerous.
It defeats the purpose of having a fuse which is to deal with overloads on that circuit.
JT >>
Yeah, i know, but i don't think too many people have those type of fusses anymore.
<< <i>Yeah, i know, but i don't think too many people have those type of fusses anymore.
Some friends of mine did in a NYC tenement -- a few years ago, their fuses blew at 6pm on the Fourth of July, it was a hassle to find those old-timey fuses at that hour on that day but we managed to find some.
We figured out that you couldn't run the A/C and the microwave at the same time....
60 years into this hobby and I'm still working on my Lincoln set!
"Keep your malarkey filter in good operating order" -Walter Breen
scratch off lottery tickets
Large Cents were grooved around the circumference and holed in the center, then a wire with a wooden handle was added to make pie crimpers.
Nice original ones bring strong money when offered for sale.
Ray
A string passed through the hole and then tied off with the other end into a knot. The loop of string would be held between the fingers of each hand and you’d twirl the coin wrapping it up around the string. Give both ends of the string it a quick tug and the coin spins rapidly and the groves that were cut into it, whistles as the coin spins. You can even have someone else hold a piece of paper and cut right through it with the spinning coin.
Now that the string is wrapped in the opposite direction, give it another tug and keep it going. This rainy day toy cost 1¢ and the string came from the butcher.
"Keep your malarkey filter in good operating order" -Walter Breen
<< <i>I don't think that I would want to eat a pie that was made with coins. You never who who touched coins and what germs they might have. Same reason you don't lick them clean, you know? >>
I'm sure they are washed before they are used for food preparation.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
<< <i>I don't think that I would want to eat a pie that was made with coins. You never who who touched coins and what germs they might have. Same reason you don't lick them clean, you know? >>
By the time you have cooked the pie you have also long ago destroyed any bacteria carried on the coin cutter. Regardless, if you wash it after usage then it is no different than any other kitchen utensil with respect to being clean.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Just hammer the coin edge to fit the slot and use the claw of
the hammer to turn it. It will twist into a "Z" shape and you can
put a lot of force on the screw.
that stole the coins to make nesting material on top of the building.
story
Johnny Swing