F-12 condition is $125. I worry that it is attached with solder. http://cgi.ebay.com/OLD-TIE-TACK-18...ryZ10298QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Roto, I bought my wife an antique necklace years ago with a $1 gold piece. Cool old piece of jewelry and hand made. Got it at the local shop. Paid just over melt for it. If you want a nice tie tack buy it. If you want the coin - buy a different one. clembo
I wonder what kind of solder they used ? Certainly it would have to have a lower melt-point than gold, or it would have melted the coin when attaching. If that were true, then it should be realitively easy to reverse the process. In this instance, it may not be worth the trouble, but I'm always looking for different angles to satisfy my collecting habit. Not to mention, I'm a cheap bugger !
roto: In this instance they probably did not use gold solder. From the color, it is probably just lead, that was probably plated at the time, and has worn off since then.
I've watched jewelers use a type of Gold wire solder On Gold items for repairs. Not sure what it is but probably Gold mixed with Lead or Antimoney. Occationally they also use Silver solder and just color it Gold if ment to match and item. Regardless, it is almost always heated sufficiently enough to melt into a coin item by the fusion of the Gold itself. If not comes apart to easily. This is similar to a welding or brazing process where the new material is melted together with the old material. Such a coin is now ruined as a coin but makes for a great looking piece of jewelery.
