Interesting/Rare Uses for Coins

Hello Everyone,

I am a children's book writer, currently working on a book about coins. Can anyone offer any information or sources for interesting or rare uses for coins? Have you ever heard of coins being used in a very creative or quirky way?

For example, I've gathered some information on a man who actually made a jacket out of coins. I know this may seem a bit strange; but, I imagine avid coin collectors are probably the best source.

Looking forward to any interesting insight you might be able to provide!
Thanks!

 

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There's been chairs made from chairs, pictures, even pennies used for flooring and coutertops:







Here's a link that has alot of things made from coins.

http://us2.ixquick-proxy.com/do/sp/...bdWJ9vCYI/AAAAAAAAWOE/Gbp5g0N49ik/s400/10.JPG

 

They're pretty popular with toilet seats too, for some reason. There's a whole bunch on eBay

 

There was lady who made an 8 foot in diameter penny using 8000 pennies

 

On the farm we used to place a cent under a burned-out fuse. I know better now and would not recommend anyone else do that.

 

I would like to see that

 

Here's a few links of artists using pennies:

http://newslite.tv/2011/02/22/84000-coins-used-to-create-gia.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...reates-self-portrait-using-5-500-pennies.html

http://www.adrianfirth.com/page3.htm

 

I read this in the news a few weeks ago. The lady was unemployed, and realized that she had an amazing art talent. She used her talent to create that amazing giant penny.

 

More than once, I've seen people spending them on items completely unrelated to coins. To each their own, I suppose.

 

rare though

 

Welcome to the forum coinwriter. This is probably a bit different than what you're looking for, but years back large copper coins were used for washers, and sometimes cut to replace broken gears in machinery. No Home Depots in those days. I actually have an old English Half Penny with a tapered hole drilled in the center that was probably used as a washer or bushing. Surprisingly, it also has a nice counterstamp on it that's undamaged by the hole. The counterstamp may be the company's initials and so was placed near the edge of the coin so it was protected from the drill.

Bruce

 

Ancient Chinese coins are still used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Old coins are boiled in water and the patient then drinks the decoction as a form of medicine.

Old coins are also used as a medical tool to scrape the skin along acupuncture meridians to force an illness to dissipate.

If interested, I write about these techniques at Chinese Coins and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Gary

 

One of the members had a Fugio that was made into carpenter's scribe:

http://www.cointalk.com/t107659/

 

I don't know if this quite fits what you're looking for..... this is a 1943 half dollar knife:

 

People used to put silver coins in milk jugs to make the milk stay fresher longer.

 

That's a new one to me. Interesting!

 

And in a related use they used to put a large cent in the pickles to give them a good green color.

An old childrens toy was made by putting two holes in a large cent and stringing a cord through them. The ends of the loop were put over the thumbs and the coin spun to twist on the cord. Then as the thumbs are pulled apart the coin spins to untwist and then twist the cord in the opposite direction while making a loud humming sound.

A larger silver coin such as a half or dollar would be holed and put on a cord to be used by a child as a teething ring. The cool metal soothed the gums and the large size kept it from being swallowed.

A large cent would be holed and attach to a handle so it could turn and the edge of the cent notched to make a pie crust crumper.

During the Second World War, a hollowed out five cent piece was actually used by spies for passing microfilmed secrets.

 

I work in the petrochemical industry and I have heard some of the oldtimers say they used as shims when using a wrench that was too big for a nut. If you needed to use a wrench to get a 1" nut loose and all you had was a 1 1/8" wrench you could put a penny or 2 in the gap between the wrench and the nut and loosten the nut.

In the movie Resident Evil Afterlife the main character Alice uses 12 gauge shotgun shells loaded with quarters to shoot creatures with. This probably isnt appropriate for a childrens book and a quarter is too big to be shot out of a 12 gauge. Dimes would work however

 

Large cents were demonitized before the Civil War, and were available by the keg for basically their scrap value. Some Confederate sympathizers, mostly in the Midwest, began cutting the image of Liberty from the old cents, attaching a pin, and wearing it on their lapels as a self-identifier.

Thus sympathizers across the North began to be called "copperheads", a term still well-known enough for FDR to tar Charles Lindbergh with it prior to America's entry into World War II.

Trade dollars were also demonitized, and available for their melt value at the beginning of the 20th Century. Craftsmen would buy them, cut them in half, hollow them out, and sell them as stash boxes for opium or other things best left hidden.

During the 1950s, U2 pilots flying secret missions over the USSR were issued silver dollars that were fitted with a hidden needle dipped in curare, so the pilot could commit suicide to avoid capture. Francis Gary Powers had one, and thought about using it after being shot down over Russia. In the end he decided against it.

A tradition in England that many in America still practice is for a bride-to-be to stick a sixpence in her shoe during the wedding, supposedly to guarantee the couple prosperity during their marriage.

 

I've seen pictures of coins made into gears.
Here's the only reference I could find on a quick search (alas, no image).

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100917192425AAH4G67