[Steve Ellsworth]

Thanks for the kind words.
Having two masters around to cheer you on is a good thing.

This coin was quite a project. All freehand.

Couldn't have done it without Steve's Airgraver. It lends itself extreamely well to the tiny work. This one was carved and engraved. 90 v, 1 flat @ .5mm 1 flat 2mm and one Knife graver about 1/4" wide. Inlay with a pair of surgical tweezers and a bead punch. Hand powered dental diamonds and a custom 8 flute stipple tool for the finish work. Initial shaping was at 50lbs then down to 5lbs of air pressure with the stroke running short and very fast. (Joys of the Airgraver!)

In a lot of areas where there wasn't room to get a diamond in I just let Airgraver idle and let the graver with a little downward pressure burnish the finish. Other areas burnished with Lowel Corning hard bronze burnishers and piano wire burnishers for the concave curves.

Seems like this is an image that people really like so I will pursue the French Marriane's for a little while and do a variety ofthem. Maybe on some steel in the near future.

My phone keeps ringing from the collectors. Everyone wants this one but I don't know if I want to part with her for a while.

Special thanks to Bill for introducing me to this wonderful pastime of coin cutting and Steve for making the coolest tools on the planet.