VOCABULARY TERM: EDGE LETTERING, PART 2

Raised lettering. Lettering can be either incised – cut into the metal – or raised from the edge. An example of raised lettering is the American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal. First introduced in 1915 and sculpted by James Earle Fraser, this medal – believed to be the first American medal with raised edge lettering – has the recipient's name, award and date around the full circumference. One of the earliest reads: AWARDED TO CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT FOR DISTINCTION IN LITERATURE . NOVEMBER . 18 . 1915.

Few medals with raised letters on the edge have been produced because they are difficult to make and quite expensive. It requires a collar made of three or more parts, a segmented collar – each of which has its portion of the lettering engraved on its inside surface – and all of which fits into a retaining ring. Before the final blow on the medal press, the medal to be edge lettered with raised letters is trimmed and placed within the special collar, and struck its final blow.

The medal must be extracted by hand, the retaining ring and trisegmented collar must be broken apart, the medal removed, and the collar reassembled for striking the next piece. Long production runs are thus impractical due to the involved production and high costs. A small raised hairline usually appears on the edge at the three points where the trisegmented collar parts butt against each other; this is known as collar gap.

Incised lettering. Since raised lettering is so expensive, edge lettering is usually incised. This can be accomplished by any of five methods: hand engraving, by punches, by roller dies, by acid etching, or by mechanical means. Award medals – where each medal customarily goes to a different person or recipient – are usually hand engraved. European orders and decorations of award are considered "unissued" unless they have the recipient's name hand engraved into the edge.

Often a military person's rank and organization are also engraved along with the name. Some hand engravers achieved so high a proficiency of edgelettering, their work can be distinguished from all others (by unique mannerisms), although today they remain anonymous.

British terms for incised edge lettering is impressed or indented.

The roller die has long been used to produce incised lettering on the edge of round medals, particularly on production runs. It is a flat disk of hardened steel with a double-beveled edge. At the outermost edge are the letters, raised from the die. When it is placed in a roller press the die impresses into a rotating medal the same lettering appearing on the die.

The roller press is adjustable to any diameter medal, but a new die is required for any change of lettering. Figures, letters and symbols can all be made into a roller die. A uniform base line and spaces between lettering is a diagnostic of roller press lettering. Improper use of the roller die, which results in missing or overlapping letters, is an operator mistake called slippage.

Punches, or groups of punches banded together (called a logotype) are often used for edge lettering. Some serial numbering of collector medals is sometimes done with individual figure punches: a separate punch and blow is applied for each digit of the number. Often irregular spacing between the letters or figures – and uneven base line – are diagnostics of hand punching (but not of a logotype punch).

Mechanical improvements for edge numbering have included such innovations as the numbering head which, with a single blow, can stamp all the digits of a number and advance the figure wheels for the next number in sequence. Uniform figures, base line and spacing are a diagnostic of the use of a numbering head. These generally have a lighter impression and are not sunk as deeply into the metal as are hand punched figures.

The logotype is used most often by a maker to impart their name – maker's mark – and is one of the most used tools because it can be used on every object made by that firm.

Some incised lettering is accomplished by acid etching. The medal is coated with wax, lettering is inscribed where intended, acid applied to etch the lettering, washed, and the protective wax is removed. Diagnostics of acid etching is deep or steep walls of the figures or letters (and sometimes undercutting of these walls).

With this brief introduction of how the lettering is produced on medallic items, let us turn to what is stamped on the edges. Perhaps the most universal is the hallmark or maker's mark of the producer. Like a mintmark on a coin, the hallmark on a medal tells where it came from – who made it, often where and when it was made.

To read the complete entry on the Newman Numismatic Portal, see:
Edge Lettering and Numbering (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/dictionarydetail/515813)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
VOCABULARY TERM: EDGE LETTERING, PART 1 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n20a11.html)

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