I had the ideea some time ago to hammer my own coin with 2 grams of gold, I have everything set up exept for the dies that arent carved yet. Here's the design, what do you think about it? Its inspired by the wallachian and moldavian coins.
First design:
Final design (black means high elevation, grey means medium):
Indeed, why not? It is a cool design, in a way. When you finish this your own coin, I suggest you put some pictures here. Maybe you can even put it in the catalogue…:)
I think it's a great idea, and maybe offer some copies as trade bait. I would certainly be interested.
Many years ago, I set up an elaborate treasure hunt for a friend that involved finding several coins (kriegerrands). This was my first crude attempt at die-making.
I think it's a great idea, and maybe offer some copies as trade bait. I would certainly be interested.
Many years ago, I set up an elaborate treasure hunt for a friend that involved finding several coins (kriegerrands). This was my first crude attempt at die-making.
I had no ideea so many people did this, but what do you mean by “trade bait”.
Ill most likely make some silver ones and alot of aluminium ones (since they are the easiest to make) I will give the aluminium ones for free to anyone, as long as shipping is paid.
Man, i cant wait to add these as exonumia, i mean, they should be eligible, i suppose.
How I envy your project! I've long wanted to make something more detailed like yours.
Are you making the dies? I assume you'll be punching the planchets. For myself, I have way more unfinished projects than I can possibly complete, but would be delighted to contribute in any way I can.
How I envy your project! I've long wanted to make something more detailed like yours.
Are you making the dies? I assume you'll be punching the planchets. For myself, I have way more unfinished projects than I can possibly complete, but would be delighted to contribute in any way I can.
I would make the dies myself, but i neither have the tools or the talent.
Pretty much, I know a guy who knows a guy that can do it. Right now im waiting for the first guy to host a meeting, wich will happen soon. Hes a good friend of my father and they help eachother ofthen.
I'm guessing the dies will be made using CNC, or something similar. Several friends have tried to get me interested in the wonders of the new technology, but I remain mired in old-school pre-industrial methods.
Two minor recommendations:
Use copper instead of aluminum. Aluminum is soft enough, provided it's not alloyed. But annealed copper is softer yet, and frankly more appropriate for a hammered coin.
Secondly, fine silver (.999) is much easier to work than Sterling (.925) or coin (.900). You can get more details with less force.
I'm really looking forward to seeing your progress!
I'm guessing the dies will be made using CNC, or something similar. Several friends have tried to get me interested in the wonders of the new technology, but I remain mired in old-school pre-industrial methods.
Two minor recommendations:
Use copper instead of aluminum. Aluminum is soft enough, provided it's not alloyed. But annealed copper is softer yet, and frankly more appropriate for a hammered coin.
Secondly, fine silver (.999) is much easier to work than Sterling (.925) or coin (.900). You can get more details with less force.
I'm really looking forward to seeing your progress!
I dont know yet how the dies will be made, all i care about is that they dont look too artificial but also have the details i need.
You got a point with the copper, i didnt know its softer, as for the silver, i have a bunch of junk silver that i can try to melt togheder, would probably be like 0.750 in the end, but i can heat the disc up before hammering so its easier to handle.
For now im kinda experimenting, i should try different materials to see what suits best and such, after i get the dies ill use aluminum foil for some kind of pattern, to see how the coin will look like and then we'll see.
Sorry, I live off grid, and the internet has been down.
You might run into a problem with the coin getting stuck in the alignment collar, especially if the inside isn't polished. The displaced metal could fill every scratch and tool mark. I don't see this as a problem with .750 silver, as it's not that fluid. The trade-off is getting the desired details.
When you get the dies, by all means try it with aluminum and copper. In my 50 year career, my most rewarding projects have been in coming up with an idea, having it fail, (usually multiple times), experimenting, and coming up with a solution. Please keep me updated!
Sorry, I live off grid, and the internet has been down.
You might run into a problem with the coin getting stuck in the alignment collar, especially if the inside isn't polished. The displaced metal could fill every scratch and tool mark. I don't see this as a problem with .750 silver, as it's not that fluid. The trade-off is getting the desired details.
When you get the dies, by all means try it with aluminum and copper. In my 50 year career, my most rewarding projects have been in coming up with an idea, having it fail, (usually multiple times), experimenting, and coming up with a solution. Please keep me updated!
Thank you alot!
Ofcourse i will try with aluminum and copper first, but even if i do it in copper and it fails i can always melt it and try again untill im satisfied. :)
I've got a friend who has been doing this for the last 5 years or so. Ill see if he would be willing to send me a photo I can share with you here. on his coins the obverse is his family crest with year and a “Mint Mark” and the reverse is a different bird, bug, animal, or fish. The mint marks are relating to his children's names. so “E” goes to one child and "L" goes to the other.
Ive thought about making my own coins from silver or from bronze to start out with since its cheaper but never could get the design just right.
I'm guessing the dies will be made using CNC, or something similar. Several friends have tried to get me interested in the wonders of the new technology, but I remain mired in old-school pre-industrial methods.
Two minor recommendations:
Use copper instead of aluminum. Aluminum is soft enough, provided it's not alloyed. But annealed copper is softer yet, and frankly more appropriate for a hammered coin.
Secondly, fine silver (.999) is much easier to work than Sterling (.925) or coin (.900). You can get more details with less force.
I'm really looking forward to seeing your progress!
I dont know yet how the dies will be made, all i care about is that they dont look too artificial but also have the details i need.
You got a point with the copper, i didnt know its softer, as for the silver, i have a bunch of junk silver that i can try to melt togheder, would probably be like 0.750 in the end, but i can heat the disc up before hammering so its easier to handle.
For now im kinda experimenting, i should try different materials to see what suits best and such, after i get the dies ill use aluminum foil for some kind of pattern, to see how the coin will look like and then we'll see.
If you are having the dies professionally made, it might be worth it to check tolerances. If you are heating one part and not the other, a tight tolerance at room temperature may be enough to seize the die when heated. you likely wont run into that issue but something to keep in mind. You could always make it yourself as that would be part of the fun, its just very time consuming and can be quite difficult.
Heating the dies to around 130-150ish F for smaller dies can help in a number of ways. Especially if your die is steel. It reduces the brittleness of the die slightly to avoid micro cracks or chipping. It can also help reduce friction on the coin surface leading to a better design transfer. That temperature should also remove any condensation or wetness on the die face which would cause a sort of orange peel look or cause rust pits.
TLDR Heating your die slightly may lead to a better design transfer with less errors, and if nothing else, it will prolong the usefulness of your die. also recommend don't date stamp your die, hand stamp the coin when you are finished so you can use the same die many years. (Dies are expensive)
Might be a little over cautious for your needs but its something to keep in mind. My grandfather made his living creating dies for tools and award plaques before he passed. Hope this helps!
Heating the dies to around 130-150ish F for smaller dies can help in a number of ways. Especially if your die is steel. It reduces the brittleness of the die slightly to avoid micro cracks or chipping. It can also help reduce friction on the coin surface leading to a better design transfer. That temperature should also remove any condensation or wetness on the die face which would cause a sort of orange peel look or cause rust pits.
TLDR Heating your die slightly may lead to a better design transfer with less errors, and if nothing else, it will prolong the usefulness of your die. also recommend don't date stamp your die, hand stamp the coin when you are finished so you can use the same die many years. (Dies are expensive)
Might be a little over cautious for your needs but its something to keep in mind. My grandfather made his living creating dies for tools and award plaques before he passed. Hope this helps!
Im really not educated on this subject but my dad (who got the blank dies) said that they werent quenched yet or something like that. He said that it will make engraving them easier.
Heating the dies to around 130-150ish F for smaller dies can help in a number of ways. Especially if your die is steel. It reduces the brittleness of the die slightly to avoid micro cracks or chipping. It can also help reduce friction on the coin surface leading to a better design transfer. That temperature should also remove any condensation or wetness on the die face which would cause a sort of orange peel look or cause rust pits.
TLDR Heating your die slightly may lead to a better design transfer with less errors, and if nothing else, it will prolong the usefulness of your die. also recommend don't date stamp your die, hand stamp the coin when you are finished so you can use the same die many years. (Dies are expensive)
Might be a little over cautious for your needs but its something to keep in mind. My grandfather made his living creating dies for tools and award plaques before he passed. Hope this helps!
Im really not educated on this subject but my dad (who got the blank dies) said that they werent quenched yet or something like that. He said that it will make engraving them easier.
Yes! Metal is cool in that way. almost all metal stock is un-hardened to make it easier to work with, cut, engrave, etc. Once you have done all the work, the metal is then heated until it glows and then quenched or hardened by rapidly cooling it in water or oil. Usually people use oil since its a touch slower so you avoid cracking the metal.
Hardening metal make it brittle, so if you were to drop a freshly hardened piece of steel onto concrete there is a non zero chance that it would crack. Once hardened you then temper the steel. You normally do this by heating the steel until it glows, keeping it at that temperature for a few hours, and then letting it slowly cool down. This will soften the material slightly (Undoing some of the hardening) while still keeping the total composition much stronger than the original material.
Could you do this at home? Yes technically. Should you? No. Depending on the type of steel, impurities in it if any and many other things, its likely that you would not be able to keep a high enough stable temperature to do it yourself unless you have a kiln.
Really interesting, i had no ideea there were two processes.
I dont know yet how the dies will be made, not even if they will be hand-rmade or machine made as i didnt get to talk to the die-maker yet, but im looking forward to it.
As for my home equipment, i got a powerfull gas torch, my dad uses it to heat up screws and such that wont move.
Really interesting, i had no ideea there were two processes.
I dont know yet how the dies will be made, not even if they will be hand-rmade or machine made as i didnt get to talk to the die-maker yet, but im looking forward to it.
As for my home equipment, i got a powerfull gas torch, my dad uses it to heat up screws and such that wont move.
If the person you are bringing your dies to makes dies in a shop for a living, they likely have all the knowledge and machinery to harden and temper themselves, I would ask nicely if they could do that for you. As for a gas torch, you could likely get pretty far with that. Though you might run into some problems with metals with higher melting temperatures. Id say buy a little crucible dish and see what you can melt with it. If you run into problems with temperature or stability of heat, might be a good idea to look into Map Pro+Oxygen setup. Those run anywhere from 70-115 USD. And increase the temperature over the base standard by about 1000-1400F.
Really interesting, i had no ideea there were two processes.
I dont know yet how the dies will be made, not even if they will be hand-rmade or machine made as i didnt get to talk to the die-maker yet, but im looking forward to it.
As for my home equipment, i got a powerfull gas torch, my dad uses it to heat up screws and such that wont move.
If the person you are bringing your dies to makes dies in a shop for a living, they likely have all the knowledge and machinery to harden and temper themselves, I would ask nicely if they could do that for you. As for a gas torch, you could likely get pretty far with that. Though you might run into some problems with metals with higher melting temperatures. Id say buy a little crucible dish and see what you can melt with it. If you run into problems with temperature or stability of heat, might be a good idea to look into Map Pro+Oxygen setup. Those run anywhere from 70-115 USD. And increase the temperature over the base standard by about 1000-1400F.
Really interesting, i had no ideea there were two processes.
I dont know yet how the dies will be made, not even if they will be hand-rmade or machine made as i didnt get to talk to the die-maker yet, but im looking forward to it.
As for my home equipment, i got a powerfull gas torch, my dad uses it to heat up screws and such that wont move.
If the person you are bringing your dies to makes dies in a shop for a living, they likely have all the knowledge and machinery to harden and temper themselves, I would ask nicely if they could do that for you. As for a gas torch, you could likely get pretty far with that. Though you might run into some problems with metals with higher melting temperatures. Id say buy a little crucible dish and see what you can melt with it. If you run into problems with temperature or stability of heat, might be a good idea to look into Map Pro+Oxygen setup. Those run anywhere from 70-115 USD. And increase the temperature over the base standard by about 1000-1400F.
I will get back to you when i get any updates!
Sounds good! Keep us updated! I always love hearing about new coins even if they are home made. IT sounds like a fun project!
Heat treating depends entirety on the type of steel, which I assume your friend knows.
We bought our tool steel from the Crucible Steel Co. They made over 400 specialty steels, of which only one was water hardening. This was WI, which we used primary because it was easy to forge and forge weld, and didn't require a close temperature tolerance for heat treating. It also closely resembled the original steel used for the 19th century tools we were reproducing.
Tempering is also steel specific. Indeed, some steels temper above 1000 F. But the 10, W, and O series temper between 260-615 F. Possibly more, but I'm only familiar with these.
The hardening will literally make or break the project. Too hot or too fast will possibly destroy the dies. If the steel is known, it's fairly easy to search the specs.
Sadly the guy that was supposed to make the dies said he cant make it (took him some time, i cant believe i waited so much for this). I will have to find a new engraver, that is more capable. I hope i can find a good one as soon as possible.
Some people suggested i'd chisel the dies myself, i would, but i have no artistic skills and neither the tools.
Edit: I found some people that do MANUAL engraving (the old guy was supposed to use a laser) which is great, gonna meet with them this friday!
The engraver guy said he cant engrave it since the material is too hard (steel) and that neither can any other regular engraver help me. He recommended these options:
1. Electrical discharge machining
2. Computer numerical control
3. To carve the coin into clay and then cast the die myself.
Your best bet for longevity of the die is probably CNC. The most involved process would be casting I would imagine. It comes down to whether you want to do more work and have the coin unique or a bit less work and have a coin with sharp details
Your best bet for longevity of the die is probably CNC. The most involved process would be casting I would imagine. It comes down to whether you want to do more work and have the coin unique or a bit less work and have a coin with sharp details
I would like to cast the die, seems interesting, but honestly i dont even know where to start…
One strong point is also that its probablly the cheapest way, and im quite poor for now.
I've not made coins die cast yet. It's a tricky art but can be done at home. I would recommend using aluminum for practice as it's quite a thin metal and melts easier and flows better into a mold
If it's lost wax, it won't be without elaborate and expensive equipment.
If you're referring to sand casting, it can indeed be done at home, but not easily for copper or silver because of the high temperatures. Also, you'll still have to make a master pattern, and the mould is only good for one use. Also, the readily available mould material usually has a petroleum binder, which makes it quite unpleasant at high temperatures.
If it's lost wax, it won't be without elaborate and expensive equipment.
If you're referring to sand casting, it can indeed be done at home, but not easily for copper or silver because of the high temperatures. Also, you'll still have to make a master pattern, and the mould is only good for one use. Also, the readily available mould material usually has a petroleum binder, which makes it quite unpleasant at high temperatures.
I was thinking about carving the coin in clay and then pour a cylinder of iron over it, may work fine, even if the die is going to wear out after some time, its not like i plan to make thousands of coins.
How are you going to heat the iron (steel) to 1650°C? The clay will disintegrate if you try that.
Hmm, good point…
I saw theres something called fire clay, maybe that could work. But i see it either comes in bricks and powder, it may be modelable if it isnt fully dried thought.
I dont really know what to do, i dont want to give up.
Carol51, I really admire your persistence and focus, and would rather encourage than otherwise. However, you're headed down to wrong path here. You should go back to the idea of making the dies.
A couple of recommendations:
1. Abandon the steel. The first rule of the tool maker is to ‘know thy steel’. This was not the case for your friend, or he would have known how to fully anneal it. There is absolutely nothing ‘magical’ about specialty steels. They were developed for a specific application, and served them well. However, this is not one of them.
Ask your friend, and the older friend what steel to use. I would recommend a straight carbon-steel 1075-85. I know these are not readily available anymore, but they should know.
2. Abandon the alignment collar. This will add a release problem without any benefit. With care, you can align them as well as the past 3000 years of hammered coins!
The engraver guy said he cant engrave it since the material is too hard (steel) and that neither can any other regular engraver help me.
What kind of engraver are you asking. You can engrave steel relatively easy with the right tools. Or is the person talking about hardened steel? You usually harden the steel only after it was engraved. But even hardened steel can be laser engraved or done at home with electro etching.
The engraver guy said he cant engrave it since the material is too hard (steel) and that neither can any other regular engraver help me.
What kind of engraver are you asking. You can engrave steel relatively easy with the right tools. Or is the person talking about hardened steel? You usually harden the steel only after it was engraved. But even hardened steel can be laser engraved or done at home with electro etching.
Then maybe he just didnt have the tools necessary, he was mostly a jewelry engraver so, usually worked with gold and silver. Then i guess i should ask some other places too, the steel isnt even hardened yet, and i told him.
Carol51, I really admire your persistence and focus, and would rather encourage than otherwise. However, you're headed down to wrong path here. You should go back to the idea of making the dies.
A couple of recommendations:
1. Abandon the steel. The first rule of the tool maker is to ‘know thy steel’. This was not the case for your friend, or he would have known how to fully anneal it. There is absolutely nothing ‘magical’ about specialty steels. They were developed for a specific application, and served them well. However, this is not one of them.
Ask your friend, and the older friend what steel to use. I would recommend a straight carbon-steel 1075-85. I know these are not readily available anymore, but they should know.
2. Abandon the alignment collar. This will add a release problem without any benefit. With care, you can align them as well as the past 3000 years of hammered coins!
I will ask in some other places, and tell them steel is not mandatory, they could even engrave it in iron, if its easier. Saddly, for now, i have no “friends” left that know the matter. And, about the die collar, i never needed it, when requesting the blank dies they just gave me that part too, even thought i never told them i need one.
I would still recommend using tool steel, just not a specialty alloy with rigid heat treating requirements. If you can't find a known steel, straight carbon based, you could still use a structural or mild steel. Depending on carbon content, it might be hardenable using brine, or a formula we call ‘super quench’.
Another method is to case harden it. While the traditional method is complex, and not suitable here, there are several compounds available which make the process much easier. I have used Royal compound for over 50 years, but doubt it's still made. I have a friend who uses one ‘just as good’, and I'll have to ask the name.
It's too bad I turned over my steel collection to the younger generation. I had a 12' bar of 1" octagon 1080, and several shorts of WI. I'll look to see if there's anything left.
Carol51Latest design (black means high elevation, grey means medium):
Hello, I talked to some guy that engraves stuff and he said he can do my dies and i will send the final design tomorrow i hope, to calculate the price for now.
I wanted to ask if anyone notices any problem that i should fix before sending it.
Just a reminder in case he's not used to die work. Send two sets of drawings; first the finished product, but also include the drawings in reverse, which is the design he will actually be engraving. It seems obvious, but also easy to overlook.
Just a reminder in case he's not used to die work. Send two sets of drawings; first the finished product, but also include the drawings in reverse, which is the design he will actually be engraving. It seems obvious, but also easy to overlook.
Personally I would want to see a modern date in some form somewhere (be it in Roman or Arabic numerals).
We already get enough identification requests from bogus medieval fair ‘mint your own coin’ type objects.
I dont think it will be a problem, its no like i will mass produce it. If you really think its necessary, i have this option, but i dont like that i wont really be able to change the date once the dies are made.
The coin will be about 19-20mm and its supposed to be similar to voins from the 1400s which are thin.
I dont think there will be problems with the gold one, but if i decide to make silver ones too, i will heat it up untill its soft, so it dosent have problems.
In pondering the logistics, I have to make a retraction. The dozen or so coins I made, I held the top die in one hand and struck with the other. I believe I used a 5 lb. hammer, which was the heaviest I could wield accurately. A very simple operation, but one that requires the hammer face be perfectly square with the top of the die. Any tilt to the hammer will throw the die out of perpendicular resulting in an uneven strike. So on second thought, the alignment collar will likely be beneficial. My only concern was that the coin could get stuck. With a thin coin, probably not an issue.
(Failed) I tried to make some silver beads out of two destroyed silver coins and 2 spoons. I decided to make beads so the silver coins will be kind of the same weight.
Well, it was more complicated than i thought, i didn't document myself before doing it (thankfully i didn't use the gold).
I didn't know i had to borax the crucible beforehand and also i may have overheated the silver. Basically it stuck to the crucible and also it turned black.
Well, i have learnt my lesson and i will update when i do it the right way. Also, can i borax the crucible if i remove most of the silver from it or should i buy a new one?
Straight propane might not get hot enough, depending on the type of torch head. Mine won't, and I use it only for annealing. For melting non ferrous metals, I use oxy-propane. Oxyacetylene will work fine with the right flame. I'll go into more detail when I have time later today.
Also, it's hard to tell from the angle, but it looks like you have a deep crucible. If so, it's the wrong type for melting with a torch. I'll dig mine out.
Straight propane might not get hot enough, depending on the type of torch head. Mine won't, and I use it only for annealing. For melting non ferrous metals, I use oxy-propane. Oxyacetylene will work fine with the right flame. I'll go into more detail when I have time later today.
Also, it's hard to tell from the angle, but it looks like you have a deep crucible. If so, it's the wrong type for melting with a torch. I'll dig mine out.
It must be hot enought, its my dad's whos a mechanic, he says it can even melt steel.
As for the crucible, i think ill get rid of it. I asked on a forum for jewelery makers and they suggested i should use some type of soldering slab or charcoal brick, i will try.
This is my gold crucible. It originally came with a hood but I never used it and it got lost over the years.
The one I use for silver is loaned out but is similar except that it's round and slightly larger. The only practical difference is that with larger quantities, the gold crucible will yield an oval button instead of round. For me, not an issue as all the gold I use is rolled into sheet, flat bar, or drawn into wire.
I have used a charcoal block, but it does get used up, so has a limited lifespan.
This is my gold crucible. It originally came with a hood but I never used it and it got lost over the years.
The one I use for silver is loaned out but is similar except that it's round and slightly larger. The only practical difference is that with larger quantities, the gold crucible will yield an oval button instead of round. For me, not an issue as all the gold I use is rolled into sheet, flat bar, or drawn into wire.
I have used a charcoal block, but it does get used up, so has a limited lifespan.
What do you mean it gets used up? How does it degrade
Hello again! I finally got the time to make the first pattern!
Its nothing too fancy, i made it to see how the interior designs would look, especially the crow.
Its made out of lead and i used a vise to make it. The lettering dosent look very good but this wont be a problem for the final coins, those will look nicer.
Hello again! I finally got the time to make the first pattern!
Its nothing too fancy, i made it too see how the interior designs would look, especially the crow.
Its made out of lead and i used a vise to make it. The lettering dosent look very good but this wont be a problem for the final coins, those will look nicer.
Here it is:
Are these 2 separate coins or a singular one with the obverse and reverse? The bird looks absolutely awesome!
Hello again! I finally got the time to make the first pattern!
Its nothing too fancy, i made it too see how the interior designs would look, especially the crow.
Its made out of lead and i used a vise to make it. The lettering dosent look very good but this wont be a problem for the final coins, those will look nicer.
Here it is:
Are these 2 separate coins or a singular one with the obverse and reverse? The bird looks absolutely awesome!
Single one, looks horrible on the edges because i couldnt compress it hard enought, it wont be a problem for the final coins.
Very impressive progress. This really does my heart good to see. I've always wanted to do this, but never quite found the time.
As you're aware, the gold planchet would have worked had it been a bit larger.
What purity and thickness are you using?
I have some scrap which you can have at cost. I'm guessing the trial was 18-24 carat. Most of my scrap is 14k, but I have some 18k, and 24 for inlay. I'll check, but the 24 is probably rolled too thin.
Very impressive progress. This really does my heart good to see. I've always wanted to do this, but never quite found the time.
As you're aware, the gold planchet would have worked had it been a bit larger.
What purity and thickness are you using?
I have some scrap which you can have at cost. I'm guessing the trial was 18-24 carat. Most of my scrap is 14k, but I have some 18k, and 24 for inlay. I'll check, but the 24 is probably rolled too thin.
Its pure gold, i bought the ingot myself. Ill give it to the metalworker that made the silver ones and he will give me back a gold blank. Its probably not even going to be my original gold, i think he will melt it with the rest of his gold and then cut a circle out of that, its a lot simpler this way.
I dont know how thick it will be, basically the guy has to give me a 19mm diameter blank of pure gold that weights 2 grams, we can only know the thinkness after its done, or by math i guess, but im too lazy to do that.
I will add them to numista, i suppose it should be allowed, as exonumia obviously. For now i will limit the silver ones to 25-50 (depends on how much it will cost) and a single gold one.
I want to make many more but i dont have the money, i wish there were people with junk silver that would send it to me, i turn it into coins and then give it back, that way i spread the coin without spending money.
The problem with junk silver is that for now the jewler only accepts if i send .925
I tried making the gold one but it didnt really work because i didnt have a blank, here it is:
On the other hand, today i got some silver blanks and i cant wait to use them (they are 2.2 grams of .925 silver):
I think it looks pretty nice, a lot of old hammered coins were off center and had a lot of detail missing. Would love to see the finished silver and gold variants!
Except, when my dad made the gold attempt it seems he ruined my die, because he pressed it with 40 tons when i told him to stop at 20, and now the center wont appear on the coins, what a shame. I need to make a new die!
Do the die ceners still look ok? If so, a thicker planchet might work.
The planchets are thick enought already, the dies are very very slightly deformed, not even half a mm, i think. Its not even visible.
I can overcome this issue if I press the coin harder, probably like 35 tons or so, but that way it would be extremly time consuming to take the coin out of the die, it gets stuck. The removing process also damages the coin and the die.
