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Hammered’ was the commonest form of coin production since coinage was first made in the first millenium BC.
Another method of producing early coins, particularly in China was to cast coins using moulds. As many as 20 to 30 coins could be produced from one mould. This would produce a ‘tree’ of coins normally with a central hole.
The coins were individually broken off and called ‘cash’. It is interesting to note that what was referred to as a ‘slang’ word for money has in fact it’s origins in China thousands of years ago!!
Cast coins continued to be the main production method in China well into the 19th century.
In England the Hammered method continued right through to 1662, during the reign of Charles 11. Having said that, the first milled coins were produced in 1561 during the reign of Elizabeth 1. Milled coins remained ‘experimental’ for the next 100 years and were produced alongside their ‘hammered’ cousins.
Hammered coins were produced by placing a blank piece of metal , called a ‘planchet’ or ‘flan’ (of the specified weight for the particular value) between two dies and striking the upper die with a hammer to produce an image on both sides. The planchet was usually cast from a mould. The bottom die would have been countersunk within a sturdy surface, probably a wooden trunk (referred to as the ‘pile’) in which the ‘planchet’ or ‘flan’ was laid. The moneyer would then strike down on the other die, which he held, thus completing the double sided coin. It is possible that where many hammered coins are ‘off centre’ the countersunk hole perhaps was not of a tight enough size, or they used the same countersunk hole for different sized planchets and therefore had to be very accurate all the time, which they were not! Looking at some of the coins which turn up: letters missing, misspelling, different sized letters, etc. etc. perhaps these boys liked an ale or two during their working day!
Another old term that has been adapted to modern drilling etc. is the term ‘pile driver’. Quite probably it’s origin being the driving down of the die into the ‘pile’. I wonder if ‘getting hammered’ was anything to do with these boys on a lunch break during a heavy production day!!! You never know!!
To increase productivity some coins were produced on strips of metal of the required thickness. They were then cut out from the strip. This gave the ‘clippers’ a bit of a field day. Gold and silver coins were notoriously clipped. Carefully keeping the main shape(or not!!), as much as 1 gram or more could be clipped off a 6 gram coin. It doesn’t take a mathematician to work out what a very profitable business this was! In fact, we are so used to seeing odd shaped Charles 1 coins, it is a bit of a shock to see one which is fully round and with all the legends in view!!
Hammered coins certainly have their charm and the ‘portrait’ varieties produced through the Tudor and Stuart periods are really quite special. To see a good portrait of Henry V111 – Edward V1 – Mary -Elizabeth – Charles 1 & 2 is something to drool over! What about the siege pieces made from Newark Castle and other Castles silver plate – some really stunning history.
I hope you enjoy our coins as much as we do - they all receive the respect they are due! |
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