Die striking with obverse and reverse dies
Acuñación con troquel de anverso y reverso
- Date
- c. 550 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Sardis and Aegina, Turkey / Greece
- Credited to
- The mints of Lydia and Aegina
- Field
- Tools
What it is
The metal blank is placed on a fixed engraved die (anvil) and struck with a moving die, stamping images on both faces. It allows thousands of identical, recognisable pieces to be produced.
What it led to
- State iconography spread on a mass scale: coinage as political propaganda
- Standardisation of weights (Attic, Aeginetan standards) that eased interregional trade
- The birth of numismatics and counterfeiting, and with them assayers
Built on
- Coinage (Lydian electrum coins)c. 620 BCE
- Bronze chisel and punch
- Hardstone engraving
Made possible
- Ink seal stamping and stone rubbingc. 200 BCE
- Roman denarius
- Commemorative medals