Silver Bullets and flint?

Jack Wilson said:

Norinco said:

Remember the stories about how people used to see if silver coins were real by biting them?

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I could be mistaken, but I believe that was done for gold coins, not silver.

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Don't forget "the pieces of eight" which I'm sure you know was a silver coin that could be cut into eight pieces. Can't be to had to be able to do that.

Swampy said:

Jack Wilson said:

Norinco said:

Remember the stories about how people used to see if silver coins were real by biting them?

Click to expand...

I could be mistaken, but I believe that was done for gold coins, not silver.

Click to expand...

Don't forget "the pieces of eight" which I'm sure you know was a silver coin that could be cut into eight pieces. Can't be to had to be able to do that.

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It wasn't called that "because it could be cut into 8 pieces". It was called that because that was the denomination of the coin. Yes, coins could be cut, but not with your teeth. :wink:

The Spanish dollar (also known as the piece of eight, the real de a ocho or the eight-real coin) is a silver coin, worth eight reales, that was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497.

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I'm not debating the issue, just proposing that the silver coins weren't soft enough to be bitten into.
:v

Jack Wilson said:

Swampy said:

Jack Wilson said:

Norinco said:

Remember the stories about how people used to see if silver coins were real by biting them?

Click to expand...

I could be mistaken, but I believe that was done for gold coins, not silver.

Click to expand...

Don't forget "the pieces of eight" which I'm sure you know was a silver coin that could be cut into eight pieces. Can't be to had to be able to do that.

Click to expand...

It wasn't called that "because it could be cut into 8 pieces". It was called that because that was the denomination of the coin. Yes, coins could be cut, but not with your teeth. :wink:

The Spanish dollar (also known as the piece of eight, the real de a ocho or the eight-real coin) is a silver coin, worth eight reales, that was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497.

Click to expand...

I'm not debating the issue, just proposing that the silver coins weren't soft enough to be bitten into.
:v

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Pieces of Eight were cut in to eighths. That's why some ol timers refer to a quarter dollar as two bits.

Yes, coins could be cut, but not with your teeth. :wink:

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I never mentioned teeth but if it can be cut rather easily with a knife, then one would assume a tooth would leave a mark.

According to the Mohs hardness scale, gold scores a 2.5 and silver, which is harder, a 2.7. Dental enamel is harder, which means your teeth will scratch those metals. That is, assuming that the gold and silver are somewhat pure and don't contain a large amount of alloy. I'm not sure how much you can "dent" them by biting.

Lead has a Mohs rating of 1.5, which makes it even softer than gold and I believe people bit coins to see if they were lead, covered with something else.

I would guess that the coins were cut with a chisel, not a knife? Coins I have seen appear to have been cut that way.

OK that clears that up, thanks Claude. :thumbsup:

"Pieces of Eight were cut in to eighths. That's why some ol timers refer to a quarter dollar as two bits."

Pardon.... myself and many I know commonly use the turn two bits in liew of a "quarter".....old timers... :shake:

I saw a Wolfman last night in Austin. Not sure I would be going after one of them with a flinter - silver bullets or not. :blah:

Also silver has a much higher melting point than lead, kind of hard for the average guy to melt silver, while lead melts at 621 deg F, silver on the other hand melts at 1763 ger F.

-----who made the silver slugs for the LONE RANGER???----- :idunno: I WANNA KNOW :idunno:

:surrender: tonto, he knew were the silver mine was :rotf: :rotf:

That is correct. Tonto, and the Lone Ranger had found a silver mine when Tonto was saving the life of the badly wounded ranger. They decided to cast silver bullets to provide a distinct mark of " Justice" if anyone had to be shot. They used the rest of the silver to pay their expenses.

Pure Hollywood Hokum!!

Remember that the "Lone Ranger" was a Radio show long before it hit the silver screen! There were movie "serials" shown in movie theatres all over the country made of the Lone Ranger, which later appeared on early TV. That, in turn, spawned the TV show with Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. Sadly, because so many of the early movies were made in Kinescope, the film itself deteriorated, and has been lost. Even much of the early TV shows have not survived.

123.DieselBenz said:

Also silver has a much higher melting point than lead, kind of hard for the average guy to melt silver, while lead melts at 621 deg F, silver on the other hand melts at 1763 ger F.

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For silver to flow well it has to be even hotter-- about 2200+ deg. F. When casting silver a common way of judging that heat is to put a piece of high carbon steel in the crucible and when it is really sparking (burning) the silver is ready to pour.
Casting silver rifle balls fits right up there with the idea that inlays were made by melting silver over the camp fire and pouring it into holes cut in the rifle stock with your hunting knife! Used to hear that all the time and had a hard time not laughing in the person's face.
Gary

rubincam said:

-----who made the silver slugs for the LONE RANGER???----- :idunno: I WANNA KNOW :idunno:

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Well two things I can tell you:

1. It was not me.
2. Hollywood plays by thier own rules.

Likewise I would not cast lead at 621 deg F either, and your mold had better be hot.

Here ya go
http://www.endeavorcomics.com/largent/ranger/faq.html

had not know the show was on the radio, just remember the tv show. the only line i can think of hi o silver! a way. and the famous "king o' sob'e". thank's see if i can find recording on the net, web, link what ever it is called.

rubincam said:

-----who made the silver slugs for the LONE RANGER???----- :idunno: I WANNA KNOW :idunno:

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Tonto :rotf:

Wasn't the original sidekick Toronto? He was a fur trading Iroqouis from the Dominion of Canada I thought.

Hi Claude ! and the rest of you folks . This may sound like I'm pulling your leg , but it's a true incident .
About 40 plus years ago we had to move to a state with a warmer climate because of health problems my second son had . There were many small towns along the St Johns river at that time.. Most folks made rheir living from commercial cat fishing , blue crab trapping , orange picken , drawing sap for turintine from the pines etc , Thease were REAL people and lived honestly and simply.
Any way to try to make a very long story a little shorter , there was a combination laundermat/ bait shop just down the the road from our house . Some times when I would get in from work early I'd stop by the bait shop , pick-up some bait and take the Wife aand kids down to the town dock to fish. The first time while I was picken out my bait some young boys came in for change for the dryers . At that time they used dimes , The boys would stand by the counter and the owner / operator would spill a hand full of dimes on the counter and let the boys pick out the coins they wanted .Guess how the dertimed the Right coins ? Yep , they Bit them ! I asked the boys why they Bit the coins , and they said their MaMa's didn't want none of those " Hod " dimes .
One other thing that always gives me a chuckle to this day , is many of the older ladies woud bring their "Washing Sticks" and open the machines between cycles and "Punch" the clothes down . This operation oft times led to having to do repair work on the machines . The owner used to try and disarm thease Ladies before they got in the laundy , but a few would always manage to smuggle in their " Wash Stick ".
So watch Out and don't take no more "SOFT DIMES"... :thumbsup: