Question on coin surfaces

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Titanium IS very hard and very strong, but it is also brittle. Hubbing titanium may not be possible, and dies made from it probably wouldn't hold up well. One of the main reasons it is used in the aerospace industry is because it is much lighter than steels of similar strength, and much stronger than aluminum which is lighter. And as Doug pointed out the cost of the dies would be a lot higher, about $30 per pound compared to about $1 per pound, plus the manufacturing cost of making the die would be higher.

 

Maybe because it was a titanium alloy but I would hardly call that ring brittle. It was given to me when he passed (long story short) I punched a wall made of basketball sized stones cemented together. I lost dislocated 3 fingers the stone I hit came in second I knocked a quarter size chip out of it the ring not a single scratch. I have no idea how much the dies they use now cost or how much it would cost to make one from that alloy but I would be surprised if it took more than one die to get the job done.

 

I bought both a titanium and a tungsten wedding band on the net. The titanium is surprisingly light, but over the years it has dulled and scratched quite a bit. The tungsten, on the other hand (not literally), has maintained the same smokey silver color, and I have handed it to high school students along with a file and dared them to scratch it...none have.

 

I'm not sure what other metals they mixed with the titanium but it isn't light weight. They only used a small amount and supposedly in only a couple of places (according to granddad). I've had it for 30+ years and it's still shines like new chrome. But it's probably not practical cost wise plus how hard it is to work with. They couldn't have as detailed designs on the coins as they do now. They would look more like old Roman coins.