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Description
These coins were a group project, between myself and two others. Each of the two dies were engraved by one of the others, and it was my job to carve the stone molds for casting the blanks. I would melt 1/4 ounce of silver in a small clay crucible and cast it into a sandstone mold. as soon as the mold was full I would clap a smooth piece of charcoal over the metal to exclude oxygen. Once the metal became solid enough to hold together I would turn the mold over and slide the red hot blank off the charcoal onto the lower die. Then the artist who engraved the rose die would hold the dies in place while the one who engraved the Corinthian head die would strike the dies twice with an eight pound hammer. The first blow of the hammer shapes the coin and sets the dies. The second blow brings up the detail and hardens the coin. Then we would drop the coin into a clay pot of water to cool it enough to touch. We did this at the American Numismatic Association convention last week in Portland, OR. The hot striking was a huge crowd pleaser, and drew much more attention than the Medieval hand hammered coins and the early modern screw press coins that we were also making there.

The design is a hybrid rather than a copy. The head side has the typical Corinthian Aphrodite wearing a helmet, with the ANA lamp for the mint mark. The relief on that side is really deep, about half the thickness of the coin. The back side has the rose of Rhodes and the inscription "PORTLAND","2009" for the location of the show. This is one of the most beautiful coins I have ever had a hand in making, and was worth all the hard work and the getting soot all over myself in front of thousands of coin collectors.

Description
These coins were a group project, between myself and two others. Each of the two dies were engraved by one of the others, and it was my job to carve the stone molds for casting the blanks. I would melt 1/4 ounce of silver in a small clay crucible and cast it into a sandstone mold. as soon as the mold was full I would clap a smooth piece of charcoal over the metal to exclude oxygen. Once the metal became solid enough to hold together I would turn the mold over and slide the red hot blank off the charcoal onto the lower die. Then the artist who engraved the rose die would hold the dies in place while the one who engraved the Corinthian head die would strike the dies twice with an eight pound hammer. The first blow of the hammer shapes the coin and sets the dies. The second blow brings up the detail and hardens the coin. Then we would drop the coin into a clay pot of water to cool it enough to touch. We did this at the American Numismatic Association convention last week in Portland, OR. The hot striking was a huge crowd pleaser, and drew much more attention than the Medieval hand hammered coins and the early modern screw press coins that we were also making there.

The design is a hybrid rather than a copy. The head side has the typical Corinthian Aphrodite wearing a helmet, with the ANA lamp for the mint mark. The relief on that side is really deep, about half the thickness of the coin. The back side has the rose of Rhodes and the inscription "PORTLAND","2009" for the location of the show. This is one of the most beautiful coins I have ever had a hand in making, and was worth all the hard work and the getting soot all over myself in front of thousands of coin collectors.