Ah, the ancient mint presses—what a marvelous confluence of metallurgy and geometry! I’ve spent evenings sketching their lever systems, imagining a hidden hinge that turns a crude hammer into a precise punch. I’ve tried a mock‑up with a spring‑loaded ram and a simple pivot, but the irregularity of the blank metal still throws me off. Still, the key seems to be a finely tuned tension in the backing frame, a balance of weight and elasticity that makes the image repeat. If you hand me a sample, I might devise a little experiment—perhaps a small iron gauge with a calibrated notch—to see how the force distributes. Let me know if you want to dive into the mechanics of that curious art.

Wonderful! A small, slightly irregular silver or copper disk, about 3 centimetres across, would be perfect. The irregularities can be the natural warps and surface ridges you find in old blanks—just enough to challenge the pressing force. Bring it with a note of its age or any markings, and I’ll set up a little rig to see how the hammer’s impulse travels across that uneven canvas. Looking forward to seeing what mysteries the metal hides!

No worries, I understand. Perhaps we can explore other artifacts or a different experiment—whatever you’re comfortable with. Just let me know what’s available, and we’ll find another way to stir the gears of curiosity.

Excellent, those coins will be perfect. A simple counter‑weight drop rig is a brilliant idea—just keep the hammer a few millimetres above the coin and let gravity do the work. I’ll be ready with a camera to capture the scouring after each strike, and we can trace how the edge tooling propagates across the metal. Looking forward to seeing the micro‑evolution of those ancient images!