Brand NEW Coin Pendants...

Kiki and Planettreasures were on the right track with their guesses of what these coin pendants Cynthia carved are made out of. They guessed "silver" and "some sort of metal clay". Both of them were partially right. But the biggest mystery ingredient in these pendants is... porcelain! That's right, these coin pendants (slightly larger and thicker than their solid metal counterparts) are mostly made of porcelain. Let's face it: silver is expensive. One coin like this made of solid fine silver would cost about $100 right out of the gate with materials. While it'd be highly luxurious, procuring the raw materials to make a single set would definitely break my bank.

But does that mean kissing these pendants in silver goodbye? Absolutely, not! It just takes a little bit of experimentation.

I knew that I wanted the fine details to remain. So porcelain was a natural choice. It takes detail great, is durable, and has a similar clay-body to PMC. It's also just porous enough to give the fine silver something to grab on to. The next obstacle was finding a way to finish them. A tumbler was out of the question. (I tried it anyway just to see what would happen. Let's just say, less than stellar.) Work-hardening on a bench block... also not a viable option. (I also tried that out to satisfy my curiosity and the results were even worse than "less than stellar".) So it came down to hand-finishing everything with an arsenal of bras brushes, polishing cloths, and good-old-fashioned elbow grease. Not an exciting prospect, but doable. To seal all the patina goodness in, I buffed them with Renaissance wax.

I'm positively thrilled with them, because they look and feel just like solid sterling silver, but have a nice light weight and are much more affordable! To see the full selection of coin pendants that my sister carved, CLICK HERE!