So I really like this obverse image of Heracles/Alexander so much that I made some replicas of it to fondle I took a wax cast, and then just pressed in the terracotta to make these 'coins'. Looks more like the late Roman tetradrachms from Alexandria lol. The die Makes me wonder how the heck engravers back in those days made such realistic 3d/high relief, detailed,and polished dies! a knowledge which appears to have been lost after the fall of Rome to up until the Renaissance!
Very cool. What kind of wax did you use? Was it warm or room temperature when you pressed the coin in? Any problem cleaning the coin after?? What did you use for the terra cotta? Some mix from a craft store? I guess I am asking for all the details of how exactly you did it... SC
I just used the wax from tealight candles (specifically citronella, I've tried to use other flavours but they were really fragile while the former is more 'malleable' idk maybe their formula is different), I melted the wax in the holder itself, removed the wick, dropped the coin in it facing up, and let it harden. After a while I removed the block from the holder, pick out the coin carefully as not to disturb the profile (which I did a couple of times before getting this die). I used a store bought terracotta block, added some water to get them in the right consistency, rolled it into a small grape sized ball and pushed it into the die, and since it's wax I didn't have any problem of wax sticking to the coin or the clay while taking them out, and while the coin appeared 'clean', I just rinsed it with some water to remove any fragrances. Also, I let the clay casts dry overnight.
