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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Brian F, post: 2480799, member: 80854&quot;]Hi there!&nbsp; I was one of the instructors of the class, so I can answer some of these questions. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>While the mints did often cut new dies, mint records and our practical experience suggest that their dies were much tougher than the steel ones we cut in class.&nbsp; Data from the Shrewsbury mint in England, and the Zecca in Venice suggest that typical lifetimes for medieval dies were ~15,000 strikes for the trussel (upper) die, and ~35,000 strikes for the pile (lower) die.&nbsp; When striking 20% Ag / 80% Cu billon, mild steel dies will not survive more than a few hundred strikes (before: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/1HAYRpkQ6k" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.instagram.com/p/1HAYRpkQ6k" rel="nofollow">https://www.instagram.com/p/1HAYRpkQ6k</a>, after: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/1WCuV2EQ5F" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.instagram.com/p/1WCuV2EQ5F" rel="nofollow">https://www.instagram.com/p/1WCuV2EQ5F</a>).&nbsp; Hardened tool steel dies obviously last longer.</p><p><br /></p><p>Furthermore, nondestructive metallographic analysis of some medieval dies has been performed (see &quot;Four Early Medieval Coin Dies from the London Waterfront&quot;, M. Archibald, J. Lang, G. Milne, The Numismatic Chronicle, Vol. 155, 1995), and it suggests that, generally speaking, they used the best steel they had available for the die faces, and the second best steel they had available for the die bodies.</p><p><br /></p><p>We also tried an experiment with tool steel die faces welded to wrought iron die bodies, and those dies were an abject failure; they fell apart after a few hundred strikes.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>This course focused on early medieval dies, which generally appear to have been cut primarily with punches.&nbsp; The degree to which dies were engraved vs punched varies greatly by time and place, and can be difficult to discern without looking at a large number of examples. </p><p><br /></p><p>Our students used simple geometric punches to create their dies, in combination to create features and letters as you suggest.&nbsp; Each punch set included a rectangle (letter upright), a large crescent, a small crescent, a serif triangle, a small triangle, a small line punch, and a beading punch.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks,</p><p>Brian.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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