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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Drusus, post: 176900, member: 6370&quot;]As for making the die...that is the hardest part. I have wanted to mint my own coins as well and the die (even with hammering, the most basic method besides casting) has proven to be the part I have been unable to do on a low budget do-it-yourself way.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>here is a pantograph reducing machine which copied and reduced in size a large model directly on to a steel die using a bronze cast of an artists plaster cast of an original work. The large original cast is mounted on the right, the die blank to be cut is mounted in the middle and the pivoting arrangement is on the left. The soft steel could be hardened after cutting and then used to strike removing the need to hand engrave dies and allowed for identical dies. They still use a somewhat similar way to make dies...using a larger original and reducing. I have yet to figure out how exactly is the best way to HAND engrave into something hard enough to strike coins with...have you ever tried to engrave on steel? or even get steel in the shape you need to hammer a coin? and make it look good enough to bother striking? I havent so far. Even softer metals are difficult, maybe I am just not using the right tools but I have yet to produce a die that isnt a disaster.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://www.tribalsoup.com/mint/reduxmach.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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