I recently purchased a set of coins for an "alchemy" effect that used amoung other coins, one gold plated and one copper plated Kennedy half.

Lo and behold, in attempting to polish the coins, I was dismayed to find that much of the plating had came off of the coins, leaving the silver color of the original coin showing through.

In short, they look real bad, and the effect is rendered unusable for me now.

I would like to know if anybody knows of a way of getting them replated at MINIMAL cost. Perhaps a do it yourself at home kit of some kind?

The reason I say minimal cost, is because if I have to spend too much on the job, I may as well just be going out and repurchasing the entire effect. (If the cost of repair exceeds the initial investment)

I was thinking that maybe some commercial kit is available...maybe something you saw on a late night infomercial or something like that. As I said, one coin is copper plated, and the other is gold plated.

Any suggestions?

I think there were some other posts on this, so you could try a search for: plating, copper sulfate.., but I would not hold out hopes for a good-looking electroplating, although coating the half w/copper might give more pleasing results(since you can accept the dull color of copper). For this you could try by putting the coin in a solution of copper sulfate. Just off hand I don't remember if the plating will happen spontanesly or need to be connected to a battery. If you try, experiment with a scrap coin.

As a kid I had a chemistry set that had a gold solution to do gold electroplating, but I never tried it, so I don't know how shinny it would come out. You might find this material at a kids store that has science type stuff. I've also seen products for this via mail order: http://www.shopHomeTrends.com or 800-810-2340, has a "gold plating system for $15. If you try it, let me know how it works, I would like to create some gold colored halfs. Then, try a search on the internet.


You could also try contacting a jewelry store.

John

You can purchase a copper kennedy half for $5.00 and a silver Kennedy half for $6.00 at SascoMagic.com. Maybe that might help.

I meant gold half not silver. Sorry.

I meant gold half not silver. Sorry.

I meant gold half not silver. Sorry.

I'll check it out, thanks!

I've bought some plated halfs off of ebay. They look ok, but one is so light that you wouldn't know it was "gold" unless you had it right next to a silver coin. I got them for about $11 for 4, but most are selling for close to Sasco's price.

The bigger question is how will the plating hold in use.