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The E-Sylum: Volume 11, Number 33, August 17, 2008, Article 21

FIRM TOUTS SOFTWARE USED BY U.S. MINT TO DESIGN COINS

The following press release appeared on Tuesday, issued by the company which makes design software used at the U.S. Mint. -Editor
At SIGGRAPH today, SensAble Technologies, Inc, a leading provider of touch-enabled modeling solutions and haptic devices, announced that the United States Mint has used the FreeForm 3D modeling system to design some of its most recent coins, including both collectible and currently circulating releases. As sculpting and engraving professions transition to digital technologies, United States Mint designers have used FreeForm to incorporate classical artistry and textural refinement in their engravings, while benefiting from digital efficiencies to meet the Mints aggressive commemorative program schedule.

United States Mint coins created using FreeForm that are available for viewing in booth 154 at the Los Angeles Convention Center include:

2008 Bald Eagle 2008 Louisa Adams


  • Bald Eagle Half-Dollar, 2008, obverse (front side) part of the American Eagle Commemorative Coin series, this clad coin features a highly crafted baby eagle in the foreground, against a background of a striped US flag.
  • James Monroe $1 Coin, 2008, obverse (front side) one of four Presidential coins being issued this year. SensAbles FreeForm was used to create the obverses likeness of the President, complete with prominent cheekbones and chin.
  • Louisa Adams $10 Gold Coin, 2008, reverse (tail side) part of The First Spouse Gold Coin series, featuring an image of Louisa and son Charles in front of graceful Arc de Triomphe-style arches that symbolize their journey across Europe to join her husband John Quincy Adams in Paris during his diplomatic years.
  • Arizona State Quarter, 2008, reverse (tail side) a currently circulating coin featuring an image of the Grand Canyon at the top, a Saguaro cactus in the foreground, and a banner across the middle reading "Grand Canyon State." Because the Saguaro cactus does not grow in the Grand Canyon, the high-relief banner visually separates the other images.
Also modeled on FreeForm is a previously released coin, the San Francisco Old Mint $5 Gold Coin, 2006, reverse (tail side) featuring a rendition of the Old Mint modeled on the original 1869 construction drawing by A.B. Mullett.

The FreeForm system is used by engravers and collectible product designers in many fields because it is tailored for creating curved, organic and non-geometric shapes. Instead of using a computer mouse, FreeForm users hold a stylus-like PHANTOM haptic device, and literally sculpt by touch actually feeling the coins surface as they are designing on-screen just as they would if they were working with wax or clay.

To read the complete article, see: SensAbles FreeForm 3D Modeling System Used To Design New Coins (http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?
ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080812005286)



Wayne Homren, Editor

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