1953 Dwight Eisenhower Official Inaugural Medal – Rare Process Medal & Planchet

Stage 1
The Planchet

The bronze alloy is first mixed and cast into ingots. The ingots are then repeatedly rolled under great pressure forming sheets of bronze of the proper thickness. These sheets then have individual blanks punched from them cookie-cutter style. You can tell which side of the planchet was facing up by the deformation of the metal along the edge as it is sheared from the sheet.

This process does not differ tremendously from coin production. It is a little less automated in that several blanks are not punched at once. Just one at a time. However, the biggest difference is that the edges of the punched blanks are not further formed before delivery to the press room. In medal striking the repeated application of the power of the press will be used to form the rim!

Before the planchets are delivered to the press they are washed and annealed (softened) in preparation for striking.

Stage 2
First Strike

After the planchets have been washed and annealed they are ready to receive an impression. Even today's large modern presses cannot bring up such an intricate high-relief design in a single blow. The results of the first blow leave the medal recognizable but somewhat mushy. The dies force metal to flow out of the low areas of the design and into the high areas. On the obverse the metal flow is from the fields inward toward the central bust and outward toward the rim. The reverse being flatter shows flow from the center outward. It even appears a special die may have been used as the reverse is pushed in opposite the bust on the obverse. Even with this assist the bust details especially the President's ear are very weak.

The medal is also struck without a collar. This allows metal to be pushed out (flow) from between the dies at the edge. This practice is typical of large medals. The flange thus created is called "flash."

This example shows the results of the first striking. That could represent multiple blows of the dies. The planchet goes through heating and cooling cycles between each blow. This thermal action results in work-hardening which reduces the effect of each strike until the partial completed medal needs to be annealed again.