The E-Sylum:  Volume 6, Number 54, December 21, 2003, Article 5

THE IMPORTANCE OF RELIEF ON COINS AND MEDALS

  Dick Johnson writes: "Joe Boling's comments in last week's
  E-Sylum for the most part were right on target.  Relief on
  our coins and medals is so important.  Name one element
  that is evident at every step of a coin or medal's creation
  and life ? its relief!   This is of great concern for the designer,
  of course, relief is what the modeler creates, this is what
  forms the pattern from which the die is made.

  Relief determines the height of the rim for a circulating coin,
  it dictates a large part of how thick the blank must be, what
  pressure to set the coining press ? or the number of blows
  for an art medal.  Relief is most evident on the struck piece,
  it is what the public sees and the numismatist studies. The
  amount of wear on relief determines condition, of interest
  to the collector.

  Joe Boling called relief the 'third dimension.' This is almost
  right. Three dimensions is the equivalent of sculpture in-the-
  round (and antique dealers use the atrocious term '3D').
  Because it is attached to its background the relief on coins
  and medal is correctly called 'bas-relief' -- the 's' is silent,
  pronounced baa-relief.   (Joe: sculptors humorously, but
  more accurately, call this two-and-a-half dimensions!)

  Discussions with coin and medal artists talking about the
  concept of the rise and fall of relief ' the design ' needed a
  better term to express this.  Years ago I came up with
  MODULATED RELIEF.  Everyone understands it exactly.
  The rise and fall of the sculptural design.  This is even
  true when it is incuse, like on the Pratt U.S. quarter-eagle
  and half-eagle coins of 1908.  It is still true when this is in a
  sunken panel 'raised relief below the background' which
  is termed 'coelanaglyphic relief,' but which is better known
  as Egyptian Hollow Relief because it was so widely used by
  early Egyptian stone carvers.

  For the relief on a coin or medal ? be my guest! -- call it
  Modulated Relief.  What Joe is asking for is a higher or more
  modulated relief on coins made at the U.S. Mints."

  [coelanaglyphic - now that's a 50-cent word!   I'll have to
  work that into conversation this week.  Hmmm.  -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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