Medals are struck in various ways. I will speak first of the method
called _coniare_[99] a term derived from this particular method of
medal stamping, and then I’ll go on to the others of which I have
also availed myself.
You make an iron frame[100] about four fingers wide, two fingers
thick and half a cubit long, and the open space within it should be
exactly the size of the dies (_taselli_) on which your medals are
cut in intaglio. These dies you remember are square, and they have
to fit exactly square and equal into the frame so that they may be
in no way moved in the striking of the medal. Before beginning the
actual thing, it is necessary first to strike a medal of lead of just
the size you wish the gold or silver one to be. You do it in the
usual way, taking the impression of it in caster’s sand—you remember
we spoke about it before—the same that all the founders use for the
trappings of horses, mules, and brass work generally. From this
pattern medal you make your final casting[101] which you carefully
clean up, removing the rough edges[102] with a file, and after that
polishing off all the file marks. This done you place the cast medal
between your dies (_taselli_). The medal, in that it is already cast
into its shape, is more easily struck, and the dies are for the same
reason less used up in the process of striking. When you have them in
the middle of your frame, & the frame itself fixed firmly upright,
push them down into the frame at one end, leaving a cavity of three
fingers’ space from the edge of it. Into this cavity fix two wedges
of iron,[103] or _biette_, the thin ends of which are at least half
the size of the thick ends and which in length are about twice the
breadth of the frame. Then when you want to do the striking, set
them with their thin ends over your dies, the point of the one set
towards the other.[104] Then take two stout hammers, and let your
apprentice hold one at the head of one of the wedges, and do you
strike with the other hammer the opposite wedge three or four times,
very carefully alternating your blows first on one wedge, then on the
other. The object of this is as a precaution to prevent the shifting
& facilitate the action of your dies[105] or the pieces of metal
that are to form your medals. Then take your frame, set the head of
one of the wedges on a big stone & strike the other head with a large
hammer called in the craft _mazzetta_, using both your hands.
This you repeat three or four times, turning the frame round at
every second stroke. This done, take out your medal. If the medal be
of bronze it will have been necessary to soften it first,[106] for
that is too hard a metal to strike straight off without heating; and
repeat this three or four times until you see that the impression
is sharp. True it is I could give you hundreds of little wrinkles
yet, but I don’t intend to do it, because I assume I am speaking to
those who have some knowledge of the art, and for those who haven’t
it would be dreadfully boring to listen. So much for the method of
striking medals that we call _coniare_.[107]
FOOTNOTES:
[99] _La qual dice coniare_, _as distinct from the method he
describes in Chap. xvii_.
[100] _Staffa._
[101] _In questo modo ti conviene formarla, egittarla agyrreso._
[102] _Barette._
[103] _Coni di ferro._
[104] _Mettile sopra i tuoi taselli le punte dell’una e dell’altra,
le quali si vengano a sopraporre._
[105] _Ferri._
[106] _This may mean working the bronze hot, but more probably
softening by annealing._
[107] _The method described may be illustrated by the following
diagram_:
[Illustration: Diagram illustrating the _coniare_ process of striking
medals
W WEDGE
D DIE
M MEDAL
FRAME IN PART SECTION.]