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You go, Glen Coco! Hammered Penny

Quickie project today! I'm experimenting with hammering coins, and then using metal stamping letters. For this little piece, all I did was use a ball-peen hammer and beat the heck out of a penny. Pennies made before 1982 are 95% copper, so they pound out pretty nicely, if not incredibly LOUDLY. Definitely use ear protection if you want to attempt this. The copper also gets really hard after a fair amount of beating, and then you can't get it any flatter... I've been learning a little bit about metalworking, and you can anneal the metal (make it soft again) by heating it with a torch until it's red hot, then letting it air-cool. Worked like a charm, and I was able to hammer this out to about the size of a quarter! Then, I had to stamp something on it, and I couldn't think of anything else except "You go Glen Coco!"

I need to put this on a necklace! But I also thought it would make an excellent dog tag, cell phone charm, or key chain. Happy Friday!

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