Making Holes in Coins for Jewelry

Making holes in metal items is so helpful when you want to customize a jewelry finding or use a souvenir or found object in your jewelry making.

 

It's a super easy thing to do with the right tools - and the right tools are definitely not a drill.  And of course, I'll show you the projects I made with the customized findings and drilled coins you see here.



The first project where I found myself needing to drill holes is these hoop findings.  

These are channel hoop findings from Nunn Design. I love, love, love them, but I had a specific design in mind to channel set some turquoise beads, but there is nothing for me to attach the beads with. Wrapping around the hoop is an option, but I thought it would look messy.

The best solution in my mind is to add a hole near the bottom edge so I can run a wire down the middle of the channel. Then, there is some room near the post that I can wrap the other end of the wire around.

For this project, I got to dust off my handy metal hole punch. This metal punch makes two different sized holes. The only challenge is that the tool is intended to make holes fairly close to the edge of an object. There is a little cut out that you slide your metal into and it isn't very deep. Then the tool has a small punch die that is attached to a screw. 

To use the metal punch, slide your metal into place, position the die and clamp it down by turning the handle on the screw.

And then keep turning. 

The die is pressed into the metal and the little plug of metal is pushed out a hole in the bottom of the punch. Unscrew the handle to remove your item from the punch.  

It is incredibly easy and requires no elbow grease at all. I've also found that it doesn't mar the surface of the metal. To be fair, I've only punched a few things recently and they weren't perfectly smooth to start with, so I may need to do a litle more research on that one.

There are a couple of limitations with this type of punch though. As I already mentioned, the hole can't be too far from the edge of the metal and this punch makes only two sizes of holes.  

There is a similar metal hole punch from BeadSmith that looks like it may give a little more room to offset the hole, but that is judging from the pictures.

I heard from a reader that she has trouble getting the hold precisely where she wants it using this punch. That is slides around when she is turning. I didn't have that problem because this metal is thick and it didn't slide around, but she was using it for a project tutorial of mine for making wire 'bones'. I think this punch would be difficult to use for that application.

I use a different type of hole punch for that project. The tool is a pliers style hand punch and is intended for leather, but it works great for thin metal. You can see it in this post on making a ring from wire bones, or on Amazon at this link Pliers Style Hand Punch.  I like this tool because it gives me very accurate placement of the hole and has multiple hole sizes.

The BeadSmith makes a similar pliers style punch that is intended for metal. I can't comment on how this one works, but I tend to like BeadSmith tools. They are high quality and intended for jewelry making. 

These are the earrings that I made once I added the holes to the findings.  I am very pleased with how they turned out. Nice and clean.  The turquoise heishi are wired down the center channel and attached using the hole that I added. I love the way the heishi curve around the hoops and also sit inside the channel of the hoop.

The next project I wanted to try was using coins in my jewelry. I found a penny in the street earlier in the day (which I always think is a lucky thing) so I decided to make a lucky penny bracelet. Due to the thickness of the coin, I thought this might be difficult.

And guess what?!  It's super easy!  Like buttah (that's butter...)

To complete my project, I strung my lucky penny on elastic cord surrounded by turquoise beads. I really love the way the penny aligns with the beads on the inside diameter of the bracelet, but sticks out on the outside.  It makes if more comfortable to wear than it would be if the hole was in the center. I've had a lot of compliments on it too.

By the way, if you're concerned that adding holes to coins is defacing currency and therefore illegal, just know that it is only illegal if your intent is to defraud with the changes. To make a hole in currency to make jewelry is fine. 

I hope this helped you find easy options to make holes in metal objects for your jewelry or other applications. Using a drill is also an option, but these tools are super easy, inexpensive and don't require any special set up to use.

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