Smart divisible coins

[Filthy Keynes]

I thought this was a very good idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlne0vYoj84

[gunDriller]

i don't want to rain on the parade, but ... it's a lot of work to go through for a 1/4 ounce of silver that has some very sharp edges in places.

[RJB]

Cool idea.

Here's an original, Spanish pieces of 8
http://www.olddominionforge.com/piecesofeight.jpg


Here are my favorite that are already divided ;D
http://www.seeauctions.com/media/listing_images/2009/12/19/large/41_40_dimes_002.jpg

[madfranks]

I thought this was a very good idea.



Way, way too much work when 90% junk silver will do. Get some silver halves, quarters and dimes instead. Another thing; what if the round breaks a little heavy on one side, you might only have a .24 oz piece instead of equally divided pieces.

[Libertytree]

I thought this was a very good idea.



Way, way too much work when 90% junk silver will do. Get some silver halves, quarters and dimes instead. Another thing; what if the round breaks a little heavy on one side, you might only have a .24 oz piece instead of equally divided pieces.


That was the main draw back and complaint of the Pieces of 8, it could never be exactly divided and was subject to rampant fraud (shaving off bits).

[Twisted Titan]

That is EXACTLY why one day the mercury dime will be the choice way to hold silver when doing everyday and small dealings.

Being the smallest unit of easily recognizable silver will command a LEGENDARY PREMIUM in due time.


T

[SLV^GLD]

The biggest drawback to pre-64 90% is the wear. It is generally sold by face value when it should be sold by weight.
I hand pick every coin and still come up with appreciable wear loss.

[gunDriller]

The biggest drawback to pre-64 90% is the wear. It is generally sold by face value when it should be sold by weight.
I hand pick every coin and still come up with appreciable wear loss.


that's one of the things that makes Franklins stand out.

they were minted from 48 to 63, then maybe they were in circulation another 5 years. so there's just not that many worn Franklins out there - they tend to keep their weight.

plus Franklin was hip to the societal dangers of English aka Jewish bankers.

[madfranks]

The biggest drawback to pre-64 90% is the wear. It is generally sold by face value when it should be sold by weight.
I hand pick every coin and still come up with appreciable wear loss.


that's one of the things that makes Franklins stand out.

they were minted from 48 to 63, then maybe they were in circulation another 5 years. so there's just not that many worn Franklins out there - they tend to keep their weight.

plus Franklin was hip to the societal dangers of English aka Jewish bankers.


That's the same reason why most '64 Kennedy halves still look uncirculated. As soon as they minted them they discontinued silver and they were immediately hoarded. The hoarding of silver halves from 1964 (90% silver) through 1970 (40% silver) is what killed the half dollar as a circulating coin in the US.

[EE_]

That's just dumb.
If someone really wanted to make a divisible coin, why don't they make the coin so it could be broken apart by hand.

[madfranks]

That's just dumb.
If someone really wanted to make a divisible coin, why don't they make the coin so it could be broken apart by hand.


I agree - they should score it deep enough that you could hold it on the side of the table and hit it with your fist and snap! It breaks.

[mightymanx]

http://bullion.nwtmint.com/silver_stagecoach.php

they did.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61Rj2KyYJ3L._SL160_.jpg

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2009/11/4/269895-125735839901926-doubleguns.jpg

[Sparky]

Interesting but impractical.

Pre-1965 dimes, with .072 ounces of silver, seem a good standard for a minimum silver-based exchange.

Now, it seems we have a gap in our SHTF metals currency, between 11 cents and $1.88:

1-ounce round $26.00
90% half-dollar $9.48
90% quarter $4.71
90% dime $1.88
--------------
Half-dollar $0.11
Nickel $.06
--------------

Apparently we need to start minting GSUS 1-ounce pure nickel rounds ($0.70 melt) and copper rounds ($0.27) to nicely fill that gap.

[madfranks]

Interesting but impractical.

Pre-1965 dimes, with .072 ounces of silver, seem a good standard for a minimum silver-based exchange.

Now, it seems we have a gap in our SHTF metals currency, between 11 cents and $1.88:

1-ounce round $26.00
90% half-dollar $9.48
90% quarter $4.71
90% dime $1.88
--------------
Half-dollar $0.11
Nickel $.06
--------------

Apparently we need to start minting GSUS 1-ounce pure nickel rounds ($0.70 melt) and copper rounds ($0.27) to nicely fill that gap.



Don't forget silver war nickels; they currently have a silver value of $1.46 each!

[1970 silver art]

"Divisible" silver rounds and "divisible" silver bars are nothing new. I think that the Crabtree Mint came out with a divisible silver bar in 1973 (1/2 and 1/2). I think that the there was also a "divisible" round that came out in the 1970's (1/4, 1/4, and 1/2) but I do not remember who minted that silver round.

[beefsteak]

That's just dumb.
If someone really wanted to make a divisible coin, why don't they make the coin so it could be broken apart by hand.


I agree - they should score it deep enough that you could hold it on the side of the table and hit it with your fist and snap! It breaks.


The physics of either HIGH PURITY gold or silver precludes any ability to "snap it with your hand."
Ductility is one of the hallmarks of HIGH PURITY Au or Ag.

For example, if high purity gold is drawn into a barely a human hair thickness wire, one pure ounce of it will stretch -unbroken- over 31 miles!!!

And if silver is brittle enough to break along "pre-scored" lines, you can be very certain there ARE contaminants in that silver. I've worked with silver contaminated with all kinds of things. For example, the smallest amount of nickel contaminant in silver will make the impure silver cleave or shatter and fly all over everywhere with just one thwack of a hammer.

The lines at checkout are long and slow the way it is. God forbid we have someone standing there trying to bend a silver round and snap off a pie shaped piece. And, at the grocery store, that little flimsy check writing stand that also holds the credit card reader just won't stand up to much flailing away with a chisel from your pocket and the 8# sledge miniaturized version.

Besides, I might be tempted to slip up and just "accidentally whack" that credit card unit. :baa
"I'm SOOO sorry, ma'am...mah chisel slipped!!!"


beefsteak

[Silver Rocket Bitches!]

Makes more sense to do something like this with gold than silver.

Like the preceding posts point out, pre-65 dimes fit the bill for fractional silver just fine and there's millions of ounces of them being hoarded.

[Spectrism]

Interesting but impractical.

Pre-1965 dimes, with .072 ounces of silver, seem a good standard for a minimum silver-based exchange.

Now, it seems we have a gap in our SHTF metals currency, between 11 cents and $1.88:

1-ounce round $26.00
90% half-dollar $9.48
90% quarter $4.71
90% dime $1.88
--------------
Half-dollar $0.11
Nickel $.06
--------------

Apparently we need to start minting GSUS 1-ounce pure nickel rounds ($0.70 melt) and copper rounds ($0.27) to nicely fill that gap.

I like the idea of copper rounds. 1 Ouncers would be pretty. Nickel is poisonous- so I would not want to mess with it. Possibly a bar of copper that weighs 1000 grains -close to 4 oz would be a nice step. A bag of a thousand of these would feel significant.

[Sparky]

Interesting but impractical.

Pre-1965 dimes, with .072 ounces of silver, seem a good standard for a minimum silver-based exchange.

Now, it seems we have a gap in our SHTF metals currency, between 11 cents and $1.88:

1-ounce round $26.00
90% half-dollar $9.48
90% quarter $4.71
90% dime $1.88
--------------
Half-dollar $0.11
Nickel $.06
--------------

Apparently we need to start minting GSUS 1-ounce pure nickel rounds ($0.70 melt) and copper rounds ($0.27) to nicely fill that gap.

I like the idea of copper rounds. 1 Ouncers would be pretty. Nickel is poisonous- so I would not want to mess with it. Possibly a bar of copper that weighs 1000 grains -close to 4 oz would be a nice step. A bag of a thousand of these would feel significant.


I didn't know nickel is poisonous. Is it non-toxic in nickel coins because it is a 25% alloy with copper, or for some other reason?

They already make copper rounds, but they tend to be way overpriced because they are a novelty. Here's an interesting d'Anconio round, priced at a rate of $12/pound, while the spot copper price is under $4/pound:

http://republictradinggroup.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=5006

At one point, APMEX was selling pre-1982 pennies, with a pretty hefty mark-up (which was understandable considering the bulk and the fledgling nature of the market). I can't find any listings now. They may have been pre-mature; this might catch on later when copper gets above $10/pound.

At these hefty markups, penny-sorting seems like a bargain! However, this may never actually be a practical investment though, because of the voluminous bulk required to make it worthwhile.

That being said, if TSHTF and someone will give you an egg for five copper pennies rather than accepting a 1 FRN note from someone else, it might not seem so crazy.

Disclosure: I save my copper pennies, but I mostly save them because of principle, and not principal. ;D

[Spectrism]

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Nickel is a stable element and cannot be broken down or otherwise destroyed. Elemental nickel is only moderately toxic but nickel carbonyl is highly poisonous and the most likely source of nickel poisoning. Common sources of nickel carbonyl are nickel mining, refining and plating and workers in these industries have a high risk of exposure. The following steps will help you identify and treat a case of nickel poisoning.


Read more: How to Treat Nickel Poisoning | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2085600_treat-nickel-poisoning.html#ixzz15OSThr5A
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It seems that not much has been written about this, but nickel acts like other heavy metals depositing in some organs and interfering with some proteins. In my handling of nickels, I noticed the metal residue on the skin and could smell the metal. I thought nothing of it until I read about nickel poisoning a while back. Articles typically say that elemental nickel is fine and stable. That is also what the dentists say about silver-mercury amalgam. I just don't accept that.