Quarter Ring // DIY

Hello, all! I was very excited with the positive response to last week's lace shorts tutorial - you readers are the bomb diggity.

It's been a decently busy week, but nothing compared to next week. My poor friends have had to listen to me complain about next week's three midterms, speech, and job training (all within 4 days!) and it's not even next week yet.

Today we will be doing another of my favorite projects - the quarter ring.

I actually did it with my friend Katie back during winter break, but it's definitely still a worthwhile project to share.

We got the idea here so be sure to stop on by and check it out.

Sorry for making you scroll through so many pictures, but I had so much fun finding cool places around the dorm to take some shots of it.

Here's what you'll need:

-quarter **IMPORTANT** the quarter must be from 1964 or earlier. The '64 and earlier quarters were 99% silver, but the more recent ones have other metals in them. To get a nice looking ring, you must have a '64 or earlier quarter. Katie and I looked through both of our families' coin jars and couldn't find any '64 or earlier quarters, so we had to go to a coin shop and buy them. They cost about $6.00

-hammer

-solid, flat metal chunk of some sort that you can hammer on

-circular file (if you don't already have one, you can get this at any home improvement store)

-a ring that fits on the finger you want it to go on

-drill or a Dremmel

-pliers or something to hold while you drill a hole through the quarter

(If you can't tell from the supplies list, this is definitely not something you could do easily at college).

Here's how:

1. Take the quarter and place it on its edge (where the ridges are) on the metal hammering surface. Start tapping it gently with the hammer along the side of the quarter, rotating it along so it is even. Because you will be hammering out the edges, it will start getting smaller and smaller in circumference. Every so often, place your ring that fits on top of it to check the size. 

2. Once the quarter is the size you want, hold it with pliers or hold it in place with a clamp of some sort (I recommend wrapping tape or something around the pliers so that you don't get ridges on the side of the ring).

3. Start drilling. This isn't easy, so I had my dad do it (thank you, daddy)! Using a drill didn't work as well as the Dremmel. The hardest part is that the drill swerves around on the flat surface until you have a groove drilled out and can keep it steady. 

4. Once you have a hole all the way through the quarter, start filing down the inside with a circular file. I watched a movie while doing this since it can become a little tedious. Try it on as you file down. The nice part about filing it yourself is that you can make it fit your finger exactly.

One of the coolest parts is that you can see some of the words from the original quarter because you hammered it out. I'm repeating this picture, but enlarging to point out that if you look closely, you can see the "LIB" in LIBERTY on the inside of the ring.

UPDATE: From the research I did before doing this project, it is my understanding that defacing money in this way is not illegal. If you alter money and then try to use it as money again, that is when it becomes illegal. In this case, the money is altered and then used as another object (jewelry), not with the intention to be used as money. Again, this is to the best of my knowledge from previous research, so please do not hold me to this as fact. One person put it like this: 

"According to U.S.code Title 18, Chapter 17, Section 331:

Quote:

Whoever fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined

at the mints of the United States, or any foreign coins which are by law made current or are in actual use or circulation

as money within the United States; or

Whoever fraudulently possesses, passes, utters, publishes, or sells, or attempts to pass, utter, publish, or sell, or brings

into the United States, any such coin, knowing the same to be altered, defaced, mutilated, impaired, diminished, falsified,

scaled, or lightened—

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

The answer to the defacement question is: it depends.

Essentially, the key word here is 'fraudulently'. You can legally drive a nail through a coin, paint it ultramarine, melt it, or bend it into a pretzel - but the moment you try and use that coin as currency, you're breaking the law. You can sell that altered coin as a collectable, but you can't use it to buy a Snickers. You can gold-plate your cent-less V-nickel, but you can't pass it with the intention of making the clerk think it's a gold piece. You can mash your pennies in the cent squisher at the zoo, but don't even think about buying penny candy with them ever again. Get the idea?"
Source

Enjoy! It's so cool to be able to tell people that you made your awesome ring out of a quarter!

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"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." -Matthew 5:44-45