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.

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.

As stated above, the movement of metal under the tremendous pressure of the press causes the planchet to work-harden. This work-hardenning makes additional strikes futile unless the medal is again annealed. Bronze is annealed by heating it in a furnace and then quickly cooling it by immersing it in water. Interestingly, this same process is used to harden the steel dies.

Fully struck up, our medal now enters the sizing and finishing stage, which has no parallel in coin production. First there is the trimming or sizing step in the process. The medal shown here was mounted on a turning lathe in soft keys that mimic the design to protect it from damage. It was then machined to the proper diameter removing the flange or "flash" created in the striking process. The machining operation has left the edge square and one can sometimes even see the fine groves left behind.

The next step is sandblasting which is a high pressure pelting of the entire surface of the medal with tiny grains of sand. Today, modern methods known as media-blasting employs other abrasives such as baking soda, walnut shells or glass beads. This is done for two reasons. The first is to mute the proof-like surfaces of the medal. The second is to prepare it for the antiquing process. Most bronze, as well as silver, medals are marketed with an antique finish and this one is no exception. The "secret sauce" utilizes the tiny pits left by the sand impacts to embed into the surface and enhance its final appearance.

To achieve this "antique" or " oxidizing "effect the medal is first coated with a solution designed to darken and highlight the lower elements of the design. Each mint or manufacturer has its own "secret recipe" for oxidizing or antiquing the surfaces of their medals. Whatever "recipe" used a finisher would then have removed the solution from the high points and adjusted the effect before the solution dried. Timing is critical at this stage as the longer the time the darker the color and the more difficult it becomes for the finisher to manipulate it. Many process sets allow the solution to dry on one example of the medal for illustration purposes. Medallic Art choose not to do so in this set.