Now that I can tell and feel the benefits of a "soft" silver coin.. How does on go about wearing one down to make the good and quite?

Go to your local coin shop and ask for slicks.

I agree, natural wear is the way to go, and the coins are also much less expensive to buy that way.

I have had far better luck finding soft Morgans at antique malls in the past couple of years as compared to coin shops. Unfortunately with the swift increase in silver prices this past year, the coins we magicians like are disappearing very fast and are getting very expensive no matter where you buy them. What I used to do is ask the antique mall owner to let me see the bulk morgans in the seller's case. Since absentee sellers don't get back to their stalls that often, the prices don't usually reflect some of the recent increases.

I understand from recent posts on the Café that you can also get fairly good deals on EBAY. Since there are usually pretty good pictures, you can make sure the coins match fairly well.

Also, in case you didn't already know, there is a distinct difference between 1921 Morgans and Morgans of earlier dates. See here:

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......&forum=3

The basic differences are that the 1921's have more prounounced edges and relief, and are plentiful compared to other (earlier) dates.

If you really want to buy some soft Morgans, don't wait. You might be paying $50@ for them by summer.

Regards,

Alan

I agree that it's best to look for natutally worn morgans. However, I do smooth out morgans sometimes if I want them to match and I always get good results. It's obviously best to find coins in the required state, but if you really need to smooth some existing coins I'll tell you how I do it.

1. Tape a large piece of fine wet and dry sand paper to a flat surface. Move the coin around in a figure of eight until you get it down to the level of wear that you want. Turn it over and do the other side! (this is the longest part of the process)

2 Use a four way nail buffer (cheap on ebay). They have four sides that go from rough to smooth. Rub your way through all four sides (starting with the coarsest and ending with the smoothest)
You will end up with a coin that has the highlights worn to your own specification.

3. Depending on the patina or lack of, I then go one step further and darken the coin with liver of sulfate and then polish the highlights again with the 4 way nail buffer. Bleach also works for this but I prefer liver of sulfate.

Note: This only works on silver coins...

Sean

Thanks everyone - and thanks Sean.. FYI I've have been paying @$35 each on ebay - now finding good matches - and will re-sell unneeded coins -

Thanks again..

I've had a go at the method Sean described above with a battered old dollar I had lying around that I bought in a lot with a couple of others that were a good match for the coins I actually use. Here are the results:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/h......6007.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/h......7710.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/h......9988.jpg

I'll probably work on the finer detail more, and I don't think I'll do this with my working set, but the results are definitely interesting.

~ Pete.

Clean your room.

I thought is - but didn't want to say it... you guys are rough!

If you think that's bad you should see my wife's desk. A lot of our stuff went in storage when we moved but we're still having fun with fitting a housefull of stuff into the 2 rooms we now live in. ^^

~ Pete.

James Riser posted some detailed information. IMHO it's also the grime in the pitted surfaces that helps coins to feel "soft".

Can a coin set be too soft?
I sometimes find my really soft coins stick to each other slightly, especially if warm.
They don't slide past each other with the speed I sometimes want.
Maybe because there is less air between them, or perhaps on a busy night they pick up moisture from the hands.

Anybody else any views on this, or is it just me?

I have some Barber half dollars that behave like that - I don't generally find it to be a problem, however I do have to be careful when throwing multiple coins from hand to hand that I don't let them land flat as if they do they don't make any noise. Probably not a big issue, but I don't want the idea that the coins can be moved around quietly to occur to spectators.

~ Pete.

Agreed. There is a difference between a clean soft coin and a dirty one. Coins with grime are quieter and slide better. You just can't fake a hundred years of grime build up!

Regards
Sean