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Shrinking A Morgan Dollar

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Pillar of the Community
United States
4989 Posts
 Posted 08/31/2013  10:18 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add fenton to your friends list
Crazy - seems like a Star Trek plot "they are creating a black hole inside a Morgan dollar. The coin only has minutes to live"
Edited by fenton
08/31/2013 10:19 pm
Valued Member
United States
452 Posts
 Posted 08/31/2013  10:32 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add AES to your friends list
Very cool. But, I won't be compacting any of my Morgans.
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16679 Posts
 Posted 08/31/2013  11:35 pm  Show Profile   Check vermontensium's eBay Listings Check vermontensium's eCrater Listings Bookmark this reply Add vermontensium to your friends list
I've seen it done before. Yes, it is a damaged coin at this point I would think.
swcoin.ecrater.com
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United States
17884 Posts
 Posted 09/01/2013  03:04 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Conder101 to your friends list

Quote:
It's amazing that the coins can be changed on the molecular level

It isn't really changed at all, just rearranged.

When the coil they put the coin in is energized it creates a MASSIVE magnetic field around the coin. When the coil blows up from the high current flowing through it there is nothing to support that field and it comes crashing back into the center of the coin. Now most metals resist the movement of magnetic fields through them, so as that MASSIVE field collapses the metal of the coin tries to resist the lines of force cutting through it. This allows the field to squeeze the coin roughly evenly all the way around the circumference of the coin toward the center. As it is squeezed in the center of the coin starts to bulge outward perpendicular to the direction of the squeeze. So the coin ends up smaller in diameter but thicker. If the field collapsed slowly the force applied to the coin would be small, but the collapse is over in microseconds and the force applied to the coin is intense.
New Member
United States
3 Posts
 Posted 09/01/2013  12:17 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add BertHickman to your friends list
I'm the crazy guy who's been "shrinking" coins - since 1998.

We routinely create incredibly powerful magnetic fields that literally "reshape" metal in millionths of a second. As mentioned above, the coin's mass and density are unaltered. The coin becomes thicker as its diameter is reduced, so the coin's volume remains the same. The shrinking process is so energetic that it must be done inside a blast shield to contain metal shrapnel from the exploding copper work coil. The velocity of small coil fragments has been measured at over 5,000 feet/second. The peak instantaneous power can be hundreds of megawatts, so it makes quite a satisfying BANG. Over the years, we've shrunk well over 7,000 defenseless coins and tokens.

A short, one-page explanation of the process can be downloaded as a PDF file. For those wanting to know more of the technical details a more detailed explanation is also provided. Also available is the history of coin shrinking and a brief discussion of the legality of coin shrinking. The process is called electromagnetic forming, and at one time, the Smithsonian had a vending machine that used a similar technique to magnetically shrink the diameter of aluminum tubing.

One page explanation:
http://www.capturedlightning.com/ph...hrinker5.pdf

More technical explanation:
http://www.capturedlightning.com/fr...hrinker.html

The history of coin shrinking (including the Smithsonian tubing crusher):
http://www.capturedlightning.com/fr..._History.htm

Is it legal? Yes!
http://www.capturedlightning.com/fr....html#Deface

Bert


Edited by BertHickman
09/01/2013 12:20 pm
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United States
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 Posted 09/01/2013  1:30 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Darth Morgan to your friends list
This really is amazing. Cool stuff.
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United States
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 Posted 09/01/2013  6:10 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Isos to your friends list
Now, the question of the hour is:

So, can we make our Morgan dollars BIGGER?

Just kidding, really cool application; I wouldn't have deemed it possible.
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United States
150 Posts
 Posted 09/01/2013  6:35 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add coinmaniac1 to your friends list
Bigger would really be better here haha!
Pillar of the Community
United States
9792 Posts
 Posted 09/01/2013  7:46 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add westcoin to your friends list
BertHickman! Thanks for the links this is really interesting stuff.
"Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin" - Aaron R. Feldman - "And read it" - Me 2013!
ANA Life Member #3288 in good standing since 1981, ANS, Early American Coppers Member (EAC), Colonial Coin Collectors Club member (C4), Conder Token Collector Club member (CTCC), Civil War Token Society (CWTS) member, Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC) & Numismatic Bibliomania Society member (NBS), USMex, Member in good standing, 2¢ variety collector.

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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts
 Posted 09/03/2013  03:57 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Ben to your friends list


Yeah, we need a coin enlargener now! Can we shrink any metal object?
New Member
United States
3 Posts
 Posted 09/03/2013  10:43 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add BertHickman to your friends list
Ideally, the object should be cylindrical or disk-shaped, and it should be a good electrical conductors (silver, copper, aluminum and most alloys of such). If the object is not symmetrically shaped, the compression forces are unbalanced and you get odd results. For example, an Illinois tax token before and after:

http://www.capturedlightning.com/fr...x_Token1.jpg

We also can do an after-the fact "quality control" test for cladded for US coins - here's an example where the cladding layers were not attached evenly across a Kentucky State Quarter:

http://www.capturedlightning.com/fr...utantKYr.jpg
http://www.capturedlightning.com/fr...utantKYf.jpg

Bert
Pillar of the Community
United States
1448 Posts
 Posted 09/03/2013  5:15 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Steelers72 to your friends list
Since the melting/conduction/malleability of metals are physical changes, the initial composition of the metal is still the same.

Chemical changes would be corrosion/rust etc. that makes a different variation.
Pillar of the Community
Canada
785 Posts
 Posted 09/03/2013  7:05 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Nathancrh1 to your friends list
What would the TPG's do with one of these coins? Would it get a details grade?
Pillar of the Community
United States
9792 Posts
 Posted 09/03/2013  8:05 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add westcoin to your friends list

Quote:
And it is very cool.
Ya'll keep saying this, but actually it's really hot!
"Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin" - Aaron R. Feldman - "And read it" - Me 2013!
ANA Life Member #3288 in good standing since 1981, ANS, Early American Coppers Member (EAC), Colonial Coin Collectors Club member (C4), Conder Token Collector Club member (CTCC), Civil War Token Society (CWTS) member, Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC) & Numismatic Bibliomania Society member (NBS), USMex, Member in good standing, 2¢ variety collector.

See my want page: http://goccf.com/t/140440
Pillar of the Community
Canada
2805 Posts
 Posted 09/03/2013  8:17 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add nalaberong to your friends list
I was given one of these toonies by an uncle a long time ago. I think one of his friends had some kind of connection to the company.
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