Gentlemen,
I have the results of the tests on my Rounder KC.
Dietrich was correct in his observation that my Rounder is a silver plated example.
The base metal under the plating, while looking like brass, is more likely Tombak. This is suggested by the red/brown tone visable under magnification and correlated by the jewler that did the testing. His opinion from the tests suggest a higher percentage of copper in the alloy than the run of the mill plain yellow brass or the better quality high brass. The jeweler likened the composition closer to a tombak or bronze which has the highest copper percentage at about 80-85% For yellow brass the copper percentage is in the 60% range while high brass will be in the 70% range.
This high percentage of copper in the frame alloy may have some bearing on the smoothness of the beading. As it was explained to me, when metal is cold formed in a die or a press it will show the movement of the metal under magnification and in softer metals without the aid of magnification.
The example given and easily understood is the American Silver Dollar coin of the past as well as new coins today. When newly minted or struck, the fields of the coin will many times exhibit a frosting even though the dies are polished very smooth. This phenomenon earned the newly struck dollars the name cartwheels because of how these surfaces reflected light. I will tie this info together for us a bit later as I believe it will answer some questions posed earlier in another thread.
The type of metal being struck, the alloys it is composed of and the relative softness or hardness of the planchet, are important factors having a bearing on the finished stamping as it comes from the die.
The harder the metal the more resistant it is to movement. Some metals can be resistant to movement even when in a heated state. The more resistant the metal is to movement, in our case cold stamping or pressing, the less finished the surface will be. Keep in mind that all this is readily apparent under higher magnification and not necessarily so to the naked eye. By less finshed, I mean that the surface of the displaced metal has not flowed as smoothly together into the new shape forced by the die as would a softer piece of metal with better flow charactoristics, hence a more rippled surface under magnification. Very high magnification is a great tool if properly understood and applied. It is doubtful that the die cutter that created the master die for the KC frame used any magnification greater than 10x if even that strong. Magnifying to the power of several hundreds is amusing but not relevant to methods used at the time of creating the original dies. A look at the general range of hand held magnification that jewelers use is a pretty good indicator of the resolution required to produce these dies.
Shifting gears a bit here to address the 800 silver mark on an item that is proven to be plated over a basemetal. The jeweler that I had test the KC is and old timer from Europe. He was very helpful in explaining that subterfuge in the jewelry trade was not unheard of and offen quite common at that time. He explained that Europe was just beginning to awake from the stupifying paralysis of the Great Depression that had affected everyone's ability to earn a sustainable living. You turned a dollar, a mark or a schilling where ever you could. In the jewelry and related trades more so with the lesser precious metals such as silver as opposed to the the noble ones of gold and platinum that few could afford. As he opined quite astutely, "One of the frailties of man when it comes to making a harmless profit." What you don't see or don't know won't hurt you. This man learned his craft in Germany before emmigrating to the US before the war, as he is Jewish.
Okay now, so much for the long prelude. Let's see if I can pull this all together coherently.
My Rounder KC frame was struck from tombak and plated with silver. The 800 mark may have been applied as a subterfuge to mask the lesser materials. Being a wartimeera manufactured item this could smack of petty profiteering by substituing one material for the type specified in the regulations. This is not an unknown phenomenon as witnessed by the many brass cored EKI examples in collectors hands. A hold over of the Depression mentality? Who knows.
Another avenue of thought to persue is that my Rounder was indeed struck from tombak and silver plated intentionally. Perhaps as an early piece for application to the medals and orders governing body as an example of this yet unidentified company's ability to produce the KC for the government. The later frosted silver examples may indeed prove that the company did secure a small government contract or the right to produce for commercial sale small quantities before LDO intervention. Only time and further research will tell.
One example will not make or break the search for the truth regarding Rounder KCs.
That is my report and my hopefully thought provoking summation. I know that some the doubters will continue to scoff and some of us will continue to look for the truth where ever the facts may lead us regarding the Rounder KCs.
Thanks for reading it thru.
Tony
I have the results of the tests on my Rounder KC.
Dietrich was correct in his observation that my Rounder is a silver plated example.
The base metal under the plating, while looking like brass, is more likely Tombak. This is suggested by the red/brown tone visable under magnification and correlated by the jewler that did the testing. His opinion from the tests suggest a higher percentage of copper in the alloy than the run of the mill plain yellow brass or the better quality high brass. The jeweler likened the composition closer to a tombak or bronze which has the highest copper percentage at about 80-85% For yellow brass the copper percentage is in the 60% range while high brass will be in the 70% range.
This high percentage of copper in the frame alloy may have some bearing on the smoothness of the beading. As it was explained to me, when metal is cold formed in a die or a press it will show the movement of the metal under magnification and in softer metals without the aid of magnification.
The example given and easily understood is the American Silver Dollar coin of the past as well as new coins today. When newly minted or struck, the fields of the coin will many times exhibit a frosting even though the dies are polished very smooth. This phenomenon earned the newly struck dollars the name cartwheels because of how these surfaces reflected light. I will tie this info together for us a bit later as I believe it will answer some questions posed earlier in another thread.
The type of metal being struck, the alloys it is composed of and the relative softness or hardness of the planchet, are important factors having a bearing on the finished stamping as it comes from the die.
The harder the metal the more resistant it is to movement. Some metals can be resistant to movement even when in a heated state. The more resistant the metal is to movement, in our case cold stamping or pressing, the less finished the surface will be. Keep in mind that all this is readily apparent under higher magnification and not necessarily so to the naked eye. By less finshed, I mean that the surface of the displaced metal has not flowed as smoothly together into the new shape forced by the die as would a softer piece of metal with better flow charactoristics, hence a more rippled surface under magnification. Very high magnification is a great tool if properly understood and applied. It is doubtful that the die cutter that created the master die for the KC frame used any magnification greater than 10x if even that strong. Magnifying to the power of several hundreds is amusing but not relevant to methods used at the time of creating the original dies. A look at the general range of hand held magnification that jewelers use is a pretty good indicator of the resolution required to produce these dies.
Shifting gears a bit here to address the 800 silver mark on an item that is proven to be plated over a basemetal. The jeweler that I had test the KC is and old timer from Europe. He was very helpful in explaining that subterfuge in the jewelry trade was not unheard of and offen quite common at that time. He explained that Europe was just beginning to awake from the stupifying paralysis of the Great Depression that had affected everyone's ability to earn a sustainable living. You turned a dollar, a mark or a schilling where ever you could. In the jewelry and related trades more so with the lesser precious metals such as silver as opposed to the the noble ones of gold and platinum that few could afford. As he opined quite astutely, "One of the frailties of man when it comes to making a harmless profit." What you don't see or don't know won't hurt you. This man learned his craft in Germany before emmigrating to the US before the war, as he is Jewish.
Okay now, so much for the long prelude. Let's see if I can pull this all together coherently.
My Rounder KC frame was struck from tombak and plated with silver. The 800 mark may have been applied as a subterfuge to mask the lesser materials. Being a wartimeera manufactured item this could smack of petty profiteering by substituing one material for the type specified in the regulations. This is not an unknown phenomenon as witnessed by the many brass cored EKI examples in collectors hands. A hold over of the Depression mentality? Who knows.
Another avenue of thought to persue is that my Rounder was indeed struck from tombak and silver plated intentionally. Perhaps as an early piece for application to the medals and orders governing body as an example of this yet unidentified company's ability to produce the KC for the government. The later frosted silver examples may indeed prove that the company did secure a small government contract or the right to produce for commercial sale small quantities before LDO intervention. Only time and further research will tell.
One example will not make or break the search for the truth regarding Rounder KCs.
That is my report and my hopefully thought provoking summation. I know that some the doubters will continue to scoff and some of us will continue to look for the truth where ever the facts may lead us regarding the Rounder KCs.
Thanks for reading it thru.
Tony
Comment