In The Mid 1950s,

and later,

 there were so many handicraft books like these, it seemed that almost every Dad made small toys or whatever in their homes, using a fret or jigsaw, it seemed a thing of the past,

but then I noticed artisan Micah Adams who uses a jeweler’s saw to cut out the embossed animals, figures, and objects from coins of different sizes and denominations,

 the artist is based in Toronto, Canada,

 the metal cutouts are used to create tiny readymades and fun collages, like this growing pile of copper leaves taken from Canadian pennies, 

 each of Micah Adams works are hand cut using the same basic tool, 

 some are combined, to including intricate birds and flowers borrowed from foreign currency, 

 to make pieces of jewelry,

 working at a smaller scale is something that the artist came to in art college while making sculptures and spending his free time in the jewelry and metalsmithing department,

 the practice of cutting coins evolved out of using other materials,

 Micah Adams is currently working on a solo exhibition of his coin collages and other works which will open at MKG127 in Toronto in February 2020,

He also has an Etsy shop where he sells earrings, tie tacks, and other keepsakes, for future updates and to see more of his art, you can follow Adams on Instagram, and there was me thinking fretwork had died out long ago!