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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;-jeffB, post: 26341811, member: 27832&quot;]While I was enjoying the privilege of checking these two out <i>in person</i> (but I&#039;m not gloating), I asked [USER=10461]@lordmarcovan[/USER] whether they were struck with one die against something soft, or whether there were obverse and reverse dies. From my naive examination, I thought the design was equally sharp on both faces, which made me think the dies were used in pairs. (Perhaps make and harden one die, then use it like a hub to strike the second die, then harden the second one?)</p><p><br /></p><p>Fair guess, but wrong, according to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/coin/Ancient-minting" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.britannica.com/money/coin/Ancient-minting" rel="nofollow">Britannica</a>:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The die struck a blank, which struck <i>another</i> blank, which struck <i>another</i> blank... until the forces passed through the final blank and dissipated into the leather backing. Almost makes me want to try it myself with some soft, thin sheet metal...[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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