Um ... don't think so.  When you flatten it out (wire, coin, anything), a lot 
of what used to be inside (and therefore not surface), will now be on the 
outside (and therefore be added to the surface area).

Mathematically, consider a circular cross section of wire, with, e.g., a radius 
of one millimeter.  The area is pi sq mm, or, roughly, 3 square millimeters.  
The circumference, which would be the surface area, is 2*pi, or roughly 6 
millimeters.

Now squish it down so that instead of a circle, you have a very thin rectangle 
that is 30 mm long by 1/3 mm thick.  The area is still 1 square millimeter, but 
the circumference is now 60-2/3 mm, 10 times as much surface area as before.

Dick




________________________________
From: Tel Tofflemire <telt...@yahoo.com>
To: silver-list@eskimo.com
Sent: Sun, March 7, 2010 2:38:24 PM
Subject: Re: CS> Why  flatten Silver wire ?


Why flatten and weaken the silver wire? It will still have the same available 
surface Round or Flat.
 Tel Tofflemire
Dewey, AZ.