This was on fb this morning. The carver Mathew Haggerman said he dropped this coin while hot onto a cold floor and this is what happened? I wasn't aware this was even in the realm of possibility for a silver coin.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here for a second. Silver work hardens when ever you hit it. So when this coin was struck 100 years ago it work hardened it/stressed it. I'm guessing the coin wasn't annealed in the oven as I am guessing it was just to add color to the coin. Stress, plus thermal shock, plus impact=beeroken. Same way with hot glass an cold water
First off I want to say I'm certainly not any kind of expert here but I have played around with metal and forges for most of my life so this has got my curiosity button pushed big time.
Mitch; That's one hypothesis being mentioned, possibly a fake cast coin.
Beladran, I wondered that. If it was VERY hot on the edge of melting and it was laid onto a cold floor... If it was immersed into something very cold I think I'd have an easier time with this. A struck coin is incredibly tough.
Definitely thermal shock, most overheating to begin with and then being dropped on a hard floor.I have experienced this when annealing silver pieces that were dropped into the pickle pot before letting them cool slightly. (Not braggin-just fact)
That is where the term,"Smokin'! " originated Haraga, due to one's ability to grave with blinding speed, thus heating the material up due to the extreme friction, causing it to smoke.
i'm going to jump completely off the limb here: i think we are possibly looking at a skilled photoshop image that was released before april 1 ! thermal shock ? the coin, regardless of the processing-- falling to the floor-- how much shock would occur ? mass x velocity producing what you see there ? hmmm, i don't think so.
Years ago, I cracked/stress fractured 16ga. sterling in my press at around 5,000 psi, IF, I remember correctly. This was prior to learning how to judge the annealing color and got it too danged hot.
I still have that piece as a show and tell of how NOT to do it.
I'm thinking it's a Chinese knockoff coin purchased on eBay. The metal looks as if it were cast. Stamped metal sheet (which is more or less what a coin is) wouldn't have that graininess to it. Perhaps if it were dropped while still orange-red hot it MIGHT. But, I'd bet it's a fake coin.
I think you hit it spot on Doc. There has been a rash of Chinese coins being sold as the real thing and the weight is wrong and they are not exactly right in the minting but pretty close. That's my 2cents.
That is where the term,"Smokin'! " originated Haraga, due to one's ability to grave with blinding speed, thus heating the material up due to the extreme friction, causing it to smoke.