FORVM`s Classical Numismatics Discussion Board
Numismatic and History Discussion Forums => Ancient Coin Forum => Topic started by: Mark R1 on March 30, 2019, 02:15:53 pm
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Has anyone tried to make a coin using ancient methods? I think it would be a really fun way to learn about the craft.
I have many friends who are blacksmiths and have equipment and they know quite a bit about forging, heat treatment, anealing etc.
I’m going to try and make some blanks first and see how that goes. They seem pretty straightforward. I’m not sure what kind of metal would be the easiest or best to use.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6T_ZutXzNQ&feature=share
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Silver's probably easiest because it's so malleable.
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Hi MR1,
Several years ago, there was an article in the ANA's "The Numismatist" magazine dealing with this very subject. The authors struck ancient coins using different methods to determine which process yielded the best results. Their goal was to test different theories, which is somewhat different from your goal.
Meepzorp
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You will find lots of youtube videos on this subject.
Most are from people who frequent Renaissance Fairs and deal with things like medieval hammered pennies.
SC
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Below is a photo of a coin made in front of my eyes in 2005 at a numismatic convention. Two dies (one mounted in a block of wood), and a big hammer.
The coin has very shiny surfaces with lots of luster -- the black you see in the fields is a reflection of my black camera. It is not a black & white photo.
It is 17 mm in diameter and weighs 1.20 gm. At that weight, it certainly is not silver. I thought it might be pewter, but looking at it again, it may even be aluminum.
Obv.: PACIF NW NVMIS ASSO
Rev.: TVKWILA WA APRIL MMV
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Below is a photo of a coin made in front of my eyes in 2005 at a numismatic convention. ...
Obv.: PACIF NW NVMIS ASSO
Rev.: TVKWILA WA APRIL MMV
An "uncertain mint in Western Washington"
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Below is a photo of a coin made in front of my eyes in 2005 at a numismatic convention. ...
Obv.: PACIF NW NVMIS ASSO
Rev.: TVKWILA WA APRIL MMV
An "uncertain mint in Western Washington"
;) ;D +++
Q.
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An "uncertain mint in Western Washington"
Actually, the mint is not uncertain. I know exactly where I was when I saw this coin struck.
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maybe not "uncertain mint"
but "unofficial" ;)
Q.
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These are the first known coins from ancient Tiffily, a small now-submerged ancient island nation somewhere off the west coast of Anatolia. The exact location is being withheld to prevent opportunists from disturbing the historic site. Dive teams are methodically excavating the city. In addition to coins and the usual remains of ancient civilizations, engraved tablets have also been found and archaeologists are currently working on transcriptions. Apparently, these tablets record the history of Tiffily, including myths and religious beliefs.
To date, several coins have been found at the underwater dig site. All have the same iconography: a winged iguana which the researchers have dubbed "Iguanasus". Hopefully, translation of the texts will reveal more details about this mysterious creature and Tiphonian culture.
(https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/images/sng-tiffily-1.jpg)
(https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/images/sng-tiffily-2.jpg)
TIFFILY, Tiphonia
c. 5th century BCE
AR18, 7.4 gm, and AR 17, 7.4 gm
Obv: Forepart of winged iguana left
Rev: Monogram within dotted square, incuse
Ref: SNG Tiffily 1 and 2, respectively
This, and one other of similar size and weight, are puzzling. Metallurgic analysis shows them to be 99.9% silver yet they are somewhat porous. Perhaps the copper leached out over the centuries. These three coins are thought to be older than the rest. However, the dies are quite similar. Current thinking is that coins 1-3 were cast rather than struck.
(https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/images/iguanasus-struck1.jpg)
TIFFILY, Tiphonia
c. 5th century BCE
AR 16, 6.0 gm
Obv: Forepart of winged iguana left
Rev: Monogram within dotted square, incuse
Ref: SNG Tiffily 4
This coin is missing from the research lab and it is feared that an unscrupulous member of the archaeology team has sold it on the black market.
[img width=850 height=459https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/images/sng-tiffily-5.jpg[/img]http://TIFFILY, Tiphonia
c. 5th century BCE
AR 16, 7.5 gm
Obv: Forepart of winged iguana left
Rev: Monogram within dotted square, incuse
Ref: SNG Tiffily 5
Most of the coins, including this one, are of terrible workmanship. One would think that these mint workers had no idea what they were doing. Clearly there was no quality control.
(https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/images/iguanasus-tetradrachm.jpg)
TIFFILY, Tiphonia
c. 5th century BCE
AR tetradrachm (Rhodian standard), 15 gm
Obv: Forepart of winged iguana left
Rev: Monogram within dotted square, incuse
Ref: SNG Tiffily 10
This coin is also missing and feared sold.
Metallurgic analysis reveals that all Tiphonian coins found so far are an alloy of 90% silver and 10% copper, except for SNG Tiffily 1-3, which are 99.9% silver.
The dies for these Iguanasi were recovered. Oddly, they show very little sign of age and they look rather like the cut-off heads of hex bolts. Ancient Aliens?
(https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/images/iguanasus-dies.jpg)
;D ;D ;D
I was impatient to try this and large hex bolts were the only readily available "die" material I could think of. It was not a good choice.
The first two coins were pressed in fine silver clay "flans" and then sintered. The next one was struck on a flan of fine silver melted into a rough flan and slightly hammered. The first of the struck coins is lost in the bushes in the US Virgin Islands because the strike was a glancing blow (I swung the slegehammer like the girl that I am) and it squirted out some distance away and I couldn't find it. Several more went flying down the street. After a trying a few more with various degrees of failure, I recruited some guy who was walking down the street. His strikes were harder and more accurate but I wanted self-sufficiency so I devised this Hammer of Hephaestus (better watch your fingers and your head!! :o)
(https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/images/hammerofhephaestussideview-ed.jpg)
This trip hammer didn't work as well as I'd hoped because it was not anchored to the ground and the striking platform was similarly unstable. Flans were a'flyin' ;D.
Most were made from common circulated non-key/non-error melt value classic US coins which were first melted on a charcoal block to "erase" the undertype.
At first I tried heating the flans to red-hot immediately prior to striking but it was very difficult to move the flan to the striking set-up before they grew too cold and it turned out that striking a too-hot flan created terrible cracks and bad surfaces. Cold but annealed flans would probably work well but I think stability of the anvil/striking platform and sufficient strike force (and accuracy!) are key. One of these days I'm going to try again with dies carved either from dies carved into sufficiently large chunks of bronze or steel rods, or lost wax cast dies (hand carved wax), or CAD-designed dies 3D printed to wax and then cast. And a stable striking platform!!
All such fun things have ground to a halt since the hurricanes though and now I'm just trying to repair and recover. The Sledge-O-Matic was a hurricane victim and the original dies are horribly rusted now.
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Nice write up.
May future projects offer greater success (and knowledge!).
- Walter
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Wow! Quite the experiment. Thanks for sharing.
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They came out great!
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TIF Rocks! ... atta-girl, my favourite
;)
=> yah, I "love" those sweet coins
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Man, if "I" tried making a coin, then I'm pretty sure that this would be my result ...
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It had me convinced Steve ;D
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Instead of banging one out I settled for designing one and having it made.
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=49358&pos=0