How do they make bimetallic coins?

Are they simply two separate discs of different diameters which are "fused" together?

Or, is one of the layers essentially a thick clad layer?

If it's simply "fused" together as two separate discs that aren't overlapping, then is it possible to push the center out and end up with two separate metals?

I only have one in my collection and I don't want to poke the polar bear to find out... (it's a $2 Canada polar bear Sterling-Cu bimetallic, same as the one pictured below).

Thanks in advance!

 

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I thought this 1 was all .925 silver and the bear gold plated. ?

 

Two separate discs.
There was an article awhile ago about a firm buying cancelled bimetallic euros below melt and popping the centers out to melt them. Then they started to waffle the cancelled coins.
I may be a little fuzzy on the details but that's the jist.

 

2 different metals fuzed together.

 

This specific 2005 polar bear one is copper with gold gilding and silver.

That's very interesting. I always thought it was sandwiched somehow.

 

carefully?

 

Just google it!

I want to share these webpages with you -

http://www.core77.com/posts/12587/how-they-make-bi-metallic-coins-12587

http://www.fleur-de-coin.com/articles/bi-metallic

 

From the Royal Canadian Mint:

"Further cost savings prompt the elimination of the two-dollar bank note and its replacement by a new bi-metallic two-dollar circulation coin. The "Toonie", as it becomes quickly known to Canadians, has a pure nickel outer ring surrounding an aluminum-bronze core. Thanks to a patented locking mechanism developed by the Mint, the inner core can withstand pressures of up to 181 kilograms, or ten times the force of a human hand. More than 700 million coins were produced between 1996 and 2012."

181 Kilograms is approximately 400 pounds

 

I've taken the center out of one of the canadian coins before. You stick it in the freezer for an hour. Then you pull it out take an nail and put the flat side in the middle and hit the other end with a hammer. Pop! Now you have this really cool small polar bear coin. (I know a lot of you probably cringed but I was a young collector and my friend showed me).

 

Cool.. The Polar Bear would love the temperature in there!

 

Would it still be legal tender for 2 CAD (i.e. will the stores / banks accept them)?

 

I doubt it. Or if I'm really lucky it just became $4

 

ok Mr curious.. why the strange questions? Of course not.. you just damaged a coin. Take a US Quarter, cut it in half and see if a store or bank would take it.

 

Up to what point is a torn bill legal tender? 20% damage or missing? More or less?

I know that the Mint shreds badly worn currency... but when do they?

I have the same question for coins - when exactly is it at that point of no return?

 

No. The Mint only produces coins. The BEP - U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing is the entity that makes paper currency. The Federal Reserve Banks take the old worn currency and shred them.. not the Mint

I want to share this webpage with you - http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2012/05/03/where-money-goes-to-die.html

 

Ahh that's right. Thanks. I knew that, even posted about it on here. Sigh...

 

Is the U.S. Mint thinking about making another bimetallic coin? Like the Library of Congress commemorative coin-gold and platinum.

 

I'd like to see one with a dovetail.

I've dabbled in woodworking, nothing big, but it's fun.

So I'd appreciate a dovetailed bi-metallic coin.

 

Here is an early Bi-Metalic

 

I remember when they first came out there were some news reports of the center popping out of the new coins.
An hour in the freezer....wow, that's not too much, I'd expect those polar bears would be escaping all over the place with our winters.