Sorry Sap and a Silver Smith

An old friend of mine and I were catching up and he was in the dilemma of being broke and in love. He said that he wanted to propose to this woman but didn’t have the means to buy a ring. I mentioned to him that I had read about guys during the great depression that would make rings out of silver half dollars. He liked the idea and we started looking into cool silver coins. His girl was part Russian we started there.

I found two of these coins online. They are Russian “50 Kopecks”made of silver. The more decorative side reads “Workers of the World Unite!”. That seemed appropriate given they both grew up in working family households. Both coins were minted in 1922 in St. Petersburg. The total cost for the coins was about $30.00.
To my friend’s enthusiasm as well as my own I took a ball peen hammer and a piece of steel and got real old school. I pounded the hell out of the coins and used a Dremel to sand and buff the hell out of them.
Each ring took about 15 to 20 hours. This was my first ring project! I’m sure I could do them a little quicker now. I’ve been in weddings. I’ve been a wedding photographer. I’ve have preformed wedding ceremonies. Now I’ve made rings! They just look like silver bands when worn, but the inside still sports the cool Russian type which is clearly visible. To all my artist friends out there, remember, anybody with cash can buy stuff, but we have the ability to make stuff! I was very proud of this project and I hope that it says everything that my pal wants his girl to know.