I got a nice seated dime recently. It was bent so I paid $2 for it, but it would grade very high if not bent. I just want it as a hole filler in my Whitman as realize that it has no true value. What's the best way to flatten it without leaving tool marks?
I have done this and it worked with several silver coins. Wrap the coin in an old stiff shirt collar and place it in a bench vice or vise and apply pressure, I used some some tin strips on the vice jaws to prevent the groves of the jaws pressing through. Try it on a junk coin first and practise.
One thing you can try is putting it between two layers of leather and hitting it with a hammer. How hard you have to hit it I don't know.
I have done it, and so have others I know. However, sometimes it will just break. Once you get used to the general procedure, (I use a bench vise as well, wrapped in leather), the only change I would recommend is some heat. I put the coin in a warm oven, (230 degrees), then take it out and wrap it, then put in the vise. IDK if it really helps, but none of mine have broken. This may not be really necessary, but I would highly recommend only doing this when its warm where the vise is. I would feel horrible doing this in the winter and the coin breaking. Heat does make metal somewhat more malleable. Also, don't be in a rush. Put it in the vise, and very slowly increase pressure. I always leave mine in the vise for a day or so. Again, maybe this is not necessary, I just wanted to give the metal time to "remember" being flat.
I only collect ancient and medieval coins, so I don't know if it would work for modern ones. However, I have had a lot of success and no failure so far with heating the coins up with a torch (be careful not to melt it!) and hammering them out. Practice on junk coins first if you have one you really like and want to fix. Nathan
I have a bent copper Ships Colonies & Commerce type coin for my set with the US flag that is struck on a very thin flange or planchet. I thought of givivng it a shot in the vise between a couple wooden shims. However the wear on the coin proves that it circulated "bent" for quite some time back in the day and it has since turned very dark. I wonder if flatteneing it out might actually ruin it as there would be no reason for wear on those high points if it were flat. It is actually more bent than this image shows. I was thinking of upgrading first before I gave it a try.
