Collecting Cut Out Coins and Cut Out Coin Jewelry

 Lately we have been picking up a type of jewelry that doesn’t turn up often.  It is coins that have had the background meticulously cut out leaving the highlights and words intact.  Older version of this type of work generally have a fancy decorative bezel soldered to the coin and a jewelry quality pin attached to the back.  When you wear the coin jewelry, your clothing shows through from the back, enhancing the jewelry.  Cut out coins began to be popular in the late 1890s as charms and sweetheart pins.

A Fine Example of Cut Out Coin Jewelry. A Pin Crafted from a 1862 Swiss Silver Coin

Fine saw blades for cut out work on sheet silver had been around for centuries, but generally unavailable outside of craftsman and silversmith shops.  They don’t appear for use by casual or itinerant craftsmen until the early 1900s.  The invention of an inexpensive, super fine saw blade made it possible for craftsmen to risk breaking a blade to make an inexpensive piece of coin jewelry

These cut out coins are also collected by some coin collectors of exonuma, along with sweetheart tokens, which are in the same category.  Modern cut outs can be enhanced with gold plated accents  

Cutting coins is difficult due to the thickness of the material, compared to cutting thinner sheet silver and the additional harness of the alloyed silver also increases the chance of the very fine blade of the saw snapping.  Coin fineness can vary from 90% pure down to 72% pure.  The more alloy, the harder the material and the more difficult it is to cut as you increase thickness. 

An experienced eye and a skilled craftsman is required for this difficult work.  The craftsman must plan where the cuts will be made and plan out where relief holes will be drilled for each set of cuts.  He must decide not only where to cut, but how the overall removal will enhance the beauty of the final work.

The holes drilled must be only slightly larger than the saw blade because the blade must be threaded through the hole before being reattached to the saw frame.  The blade is also about the size of a thick hair and very prone to snapping if even the slightest twisting or uneven pressure is made.  One source indicated that 20 to 40 holes must be drilled and the same number of blade inserts and connections to the frame are made.  The most intricate pieces may take over 100 to 150 cuts to complete the work.  Each piece takes hours to finish and the most complex might take up to 15 hours from start to finish, in cases where full legends and date are cut out..  The coin is then polished. Then any soldering for a pin or bail done and a final clean up and polish to complete the work. 

We are more familiar with pieces cut out in the late 1960s and early 1970s from craft fairs and made sometimes by itinerant hippies.  Although they produced some good work, they were not always masterpieces of advanced craftsmen.  In fact, they often didn’t have an aded pin or bail soldered on and a simple cord was used for wear.

Look for pieces with intricate cut outs. For example, there are a lot of letters and numbers are cut out, and soldered on decorative border and a good quality pin or bail for wearing.  It’s not always about age and some new pieces are so intricate and involved, they are more expensive than a vintage item.  Newer pieces may also have gold plating in areas for accents.  Watch out for cast copies of good pieces masquerading as originals.  You will see a line around the rim that shows it was cast and not a coin as well as a blurriness deep within the cutouts around the letters.  Generally these inexpensive copies are made of pewter or lead.

Remember, attention to detail will save you a lot of money and disappointment no matter what you collect.  Buy what you like and don’t worry too much about buying for investment.  The great thing about cut out coins is that you can wear them and they make a great fashion statement about your collecting.

EXAMPLES Available at South Coast Antiques & Gallery 

U.S. silver dollar die cut by machine note lack of soldering (see comments section)

Cut Out 1920's U.S. Morgan Silver Dollar

1920's U.S. Morgan Silver Dollar
Fashioned into a Necklace with Sterling Beads and Light Blue Dragon Skin Agate.

A Dutch sweetheart pin, probably made for American military members in WWII, circa late war.

Crafted From Dutch Silver Coins

Guatemala coin bracelet made up of alternate cut out coins from the late 1800's.  

This work probably dates in the 1920's or 30's.

Tiny Silver 1 Real Coins From Guatemala

UPDATE 1 May 1014:  Buyers beware of laser cut coins being sold as hand cut coins in the past few years.  The coin is scanned and then a computer guided laser cuts out designated areas.  They are pretty and they started life as a coin, but don't fit the definition of hand-made by any means.  Also read the comment section below about a discussion about die-cut coins.  Also note our previous photos below of a base metal cast pseudo coin.  The lead ones are soft and easily bent.  The fact that they are silver plated can lead the unwary to believe they are coin silver.

Fake Bahamas cut out coin made of cast lead.of no actual value.