Boschboom

I heard from another member of this forum that a member has made dies for hammering coins. That is very interesting and must be fun to do. Though it must have been a tough job to make these dies and also the hammering is not easy.

About producing dies. I'm not absolutely sure what you mean with etching a die. If I'm correct etching would be a technique in which acid is used to erode the surface of a piece of metal. I use burins to do the job. Burins are a kind of knives that can be used to cut in steel, off course some other tools and machines in the modern practice are used as well. Check out http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graveur again only in Dutch, but you can see me at work on the pictures.


Cheers,
Lei

Hi,

Thank you for the reply.

These coins are not only beautiful but Belgian coin collectors who have a little historical knowledge consider these coins as the first Belgian coins. During the revolution of 1789/1790 the newborn state for the first time in history had the same borders as present Belgium. Before that the Belgium territory always was part of a bigger confederation under rule of foreign kings and emperors. After this short revolution the Austrian, French and the Dutch ruled in Belgium and in 1830 Belgium became defenitely independent.
The engraver who designed them, Theodore van Berckel, was born in my hometown and, having the same proffesion, he is my rolemodel. I have been studying his work for long time now and I'm planning to write a book about him.
There is a website which you might like to check www.theodoorvanberckel.nl
unfortunately only in Dutch.

regards,
Lei

Hey,

Thanks for the heads up. Thanks for adding to the information...It takes a little time to compile info when you are dealing sometimes with a language you cant read and not having intimate knowledge of the history, its good to have someone like yourself look it over, verify and add to it. That coin is one of my favorite coins in my collection and the history behind it is fascinating.

Thanks again

BTW...I like the picture you are using in your profile...a die being etched. I have been working on minting my own coin (hammered). I have found the die to be the hardest part. I did a few by hand but since I am not very good at etching but I have access to a CNC mill I have been looking into making dies that way. Take Care