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 Replies: 10 / Views: 9,881 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3276 Posts |
*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***
So I'm trying to be a more legit coin collector. lol. recently bought a loupe. I just bought a scale, which I can't believe I didn't have before. and now I need something to measure thickness of coins. do you use a caliper? if so what kind or brand would you recommend? one that is plastic so it can't hurt coins? digital or not?
if you have one that use use and love, let me know about it :)
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1166 Posts |
I found the plastic ones were totally useless but then I might have had a cheap version. I bought digital calipers on line on ebay from a Chinese distributor. They were $19.99 with free shipping and arrived in a week. The calipers are identical to the ones sold in a local automotive store for $39.99. Type in: 6" digital caliper and you'll find a lot listed. As for scratching a coin, you just have to be very careful. I haven't scratched one yet and I've measured thousands of coins with it. |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
I don't measure the thickness of a coin.
I calculate the average thickness if I feel the need to find out. You need to know the density of the alloy from which it is made to enable a calculation to be done. You also need to know the diameter.
If you don't know the density of the alloy, a weighted average of the component metals that make up the alloy can be calculated, but that may not be exactly right, due to the atomic building block pattern of the different atoms which make up the metallic crystalline structure of the alloy.
This procedure only yields the average thickness of the coin.
BTW, how does the Mint nominate the thickness of their coins? At the rim? At the thinnest point between opposite sides in the fields of the obverse and reverse?
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19951 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
Posted Today 4 Hrs 7 Min ago
I don't measure the thickness of a coin.
I don't either. If you can stand it up on edge, it is too thick. Except a Nickel, maybe. Not sure why anyone would measure the thickness of a coin. Guess there is a reason for everything. I just put them in Albums. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3276 Posts |
not just thinkness, but I guess diameter as well. do you guys think one of these is not needed at all?
and over 1600 sold, wow.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1064 Posts |
Maybe you were thinking measuring the thickness was another method of verifying a coin's veracity, like the ring test, the tissue test, the magnet, weighing it, etc..? Another tool in the daily vigilance against good counterfeits? |
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Valued Member
United States
108 Posts |
I use a Youfound 0~100mm digital caliper. It uses one EPX76 button battery ("a dime a dozen") and does good with measuring thickness and diameter. I have never personally scratched a coin using them, but anything can happen...even if you're simply holding the coin! Thickness, however, is not necessarily uniform, so you may achieve different readings from different positions along the edge. I normally take readings at the 12-3-6-9 o'clock positions and average them out.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
I got a caliper from AutoZone which really to be honest looks like the one from ebay above. Wasn't very expensive but I think it was a little more than 13 bucks |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3592 Posts |
I have a Mitutoyo dial caliper from my machine shop days...and yes I use it to check diameter and thickness on any suspect coins. Diameter is the most consistent, but thickness can be checked for any great variations.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
I have an old engineer's vernier caliper. I use it for gem cutting as well as for coins occasionally. It's quite accurate enough for round and rectangular faceted stones down to about 1/2 millimetre, and coins of all sizes.
I find it does not work too well on the ragged flans of ancient coins. That makes them a bit hard to calculate for.
Australian yellow sapphires from Anakie in Central Queensland are my favourite stones to cut.
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Replies: 10 / Views: 9,881 |
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Posted 04/23/2011 09:18 am
