A penny; although most people do not know, there are many different colors that these coins can have, even if they are not toned. Although it can be a pretty unassuming piece of money with its low face value when combined in just the right way the contrasting colors can be used to make a beautiful design! When it comes to Lincoln cents, and cents as a whole there are three major colors that are applicable: Red (RD) Red-Brown (RB) and Brown(BN), and sometimes a blue/green color if the coins become oxidized, or even black. Amazingly, many artists have creatively used this concept to put pennies in numerous places such as on floors, tables, and even in picture frames! These are great, because not only does it provide you with a fantastic opportunity to coin roll hunt, but it gives you something great to do with the left over pennies! In general, the steps are fairly simple. First, you obtain the pennies (and hopefully search them for Wheaties =) ). Next, you get the surface that you are going to spread the pennies across, and you spread them across the surface. Some people like to glue down each coin individually, but others do not find this to be necessary. After laying the coins across the surface, you paint on a "seal" coat of epoxy (grout can be used if the project is for flooring). Next, a layer of epoxy is poured across the entire surface to provide a hard, lasting finish. When pouring the material, make sure that you pour it slowly and let it settle naturally for the best result. If you seen any bubbles form after either of the layers, use something like a blow torch to pop any bubbles, but do not do this too long after the initial pouring because it can cause the material to not properly set. After this, let the epoxy dry for about 48 hours and enjoy your finished product! Below are some awesome designs that people have made for some inspiration and ideas! The image above is an awesome island top, made by John Drennan Above is an image of "Kelly's freehand penny foyer" Above is an image of an American Flag that is made out of pennies, with the stars made out of dimes. Above is an image of just a really cool design that is made out of pennies. Above is an image of an arrow that is made using pennies and dimes. Above is a floor made out of pennies and epoxy, which goes to show that a design still looks cool even if no specific design is made. Above is an image of a table top that has a design made out of pennies. Above is another awesome floor design made out of pennies. Above is an image of a dollar sign that is made out of pennies. Whats different about this design, is that you can see the placement of each cent and not too many coins are used!
Well, there you have it, another use for those pennies! It is truly amazing the creative designs that can be made using pennies, using all of the different colors that they naturally have! As long as a little creativity is used, some awesome designs and images can be made. I really hope that you enjoyed this article, and that you keep on the look out for some more articles from Let's Start A Coin Collection! By: Brandon Spiegel, Owner and Founder of Let's Start A Coin Collection
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We have all heard of the now very famous mints medal, in gold and silver which depicts lady liberty being an African American. This is very striking, especially when comparing this coin with all of the older ones that were produced at the mint. Amazingly, there are some obvious, and unexpected similarities between the design of this coin and that of James B Longacre sketches for fractional coinage. James B Longacre is one of the most famous American coin designers and engravers in American history, where he designed masterpieces such as the Indian Head cent and the Shield nickel! He was born on a farm in Pennsylvania in 1794, just one year after the US Mint started mass producing coins not too far from the mint. Unfortunately, at a young age his mom died which left him with just his dad, and at the age of just 12, he left his home to find work. His first job was as a bookkeeper, where he eventually moved on to be an appetence for a person that engraved plates for bank notes. After a lot of hard work, he became very successful at the skill and eventually met many famous leaders that he made engravings of, who were impressed with his work. Amazingly, throughout his career as an engraver he started to engrave famous people, whom became very fond of them. One of the people that he engraved a picture of, and met was a famous senator named John C Culohan of South Carolina, who was the initial connection that caused him to later become the chief engraver after the death of Cristian Golbrechet in 1844. At the start, there were a lot of various political battles with not only various political figures of the time but also with various mint employees which almost got him fired. Fortunately, not only for him but for all of the American coinage his job was saved, by the secretary of the treasury, where soon after he designed the Liberty gold one dollar coin, and the Liberty Cornet Head $20 gold piece! Throughout his career, he designed many more coins such as the other two gold one dollar pieces, the flying eagle cent, the two-cent piece, the three cent silver piece, the three cent piece, and more! Throughout all of this designing, and engraving there were numerous pattern coins produced, and many more sketches drawn. A few of his sketches, as seen above contains a unique crown of stars, which is distinct to his designs, until now. Amazingly, this design characteristic is very similar to that which is seen on the $100 gold coin known as the "American Liberty 225th Anniversary Coin." This coin was designed by Justin Kunz with a unique rendition of Lady Liberty on the obverse as an African American figure, and a majestic eagle on the reverse. There is a limited mintage of these coins, where the design is on both $100 gold coin and silver medal. Amazingly, this coin is the first one that has been produced by the United States Mint with a crown of stars on Liberties head. Reportedly, the inspiration of the crown of stars was from the statue of Freedom statue which is located atop the US capital dome; which is very logical, considering that the statue represents so many patriotic ideas and its similarity to Longacre's sketches. It is amazing to understand the reflection of ideas that are represented on coins from the past, and in the present even when the same figure is used as an inspiration. Hopefully we will see more depictions of this statue on coins and metals, as it is something that is more patriotic than many symbols of our nation in modern times. I really hoped that you enjoyed this article, a do have fun collecting!
- Brandon Spiegel, Owner and Founder of Let's Start A Coin Collection |
Author: Brandon Spiegel.
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