New Life for Old Coins

I mentioned in my last post that I had just bought some coins from Joel Anderson Interesting World Coins and Paper Money--I got a whole pound of them! They're from pretty much everywhere. I pulled out the ones with the nicest textures to use on my metal, and left the rest in the bag. What to do with them...?

About five of them were very worn down and blackened with oxidation, so I decided to use them for patina experiments. I didn't even know what kind of metal they were! Well, they all took the verdigris to some extent (the coins in this post were treated with traditional verdigris solution from Shannon LeVart (MissFickleMedia), and then sealed with Vintaj/Ranger sealant and Renaissance Wax). I used one of the smaller ones in a pendant (see my last post), and saved out four for use as bracelet clasps (I REALLY need to make some bracelets for the shop). I had an idea for possibly stacking them to make a toggle clasp:

I used my little hole punch from Fire Mountain to make holes in the smaller coins, and my drill to make holes in the larger (they're too big for the punch). Then I turned them into toggle clasps with a rivet and copper sheet and wire.

I decided on a Southwest kind of color palette, because I just can't stay away from that when I have something turquoise! I had just gotten some FABULOUS Czech beads from CraftAnne and BeadsAndBabble on Etsy, and they seemed just perfect.

This was how it came together:

More Hong Kong-Santa Fe Fusion

I also included poppy jasper in an interesting shape, Indonesian glass beads from Happy Mango Beads, and some "cocoon" beads (based on a tutorial by Kharisma Ryantori) I had made from copper and antiqued with Shannon's verdigris solution. I am in LOVE with the multicolor Czech picasso beads (I might have to clean out CraftAnne's shop of these!)--they're the larger ones with the beadcaps on them.

When it was mostly completed I added few tchochkes: a Czech glass wheel bead in turquoise, one of my new round charms (textured on one side with a 1963 Hong Kong fifty-cent piece and on the other side with a Thai coin I can't identify-- I'm guessing it's from the 50s or 60s too), and a couple of textured copper bowls to sort of camouflage where the strands join the toggle loops (this is beaded with SoftFlex beading wire).

Here's a view of the other side of my round charm:

I'm digging these Asian coin textures.

This item is sold, and on its way to the East Coast today!