So What is a Process Set?

So what is a process set you ask? A fair question, that deserves more than just a short answer. Process sets are an attempt to answer the questions that many curious people have when they contemplate an object that most others take for granted. Have you ever looked at an object and wondered how did they do that? How was that made? Well you're not alone nor is it a phenomenon unique to numismatics. At a large collectibles company in central North Carolina that specializes in replacements for discontinued and antique china and silverware patterns there are two fascinating process sets on display in their showroom. One shows how from the various raw materials in the form of powder that a china dinner plate is manufactured all the way up to the finished plate ready to serve on. While another shows the steps required to forge and manufacture a silver fork. Both were very interesting and educational.

In numismatics the art or high-relief medal is the natural place to look for such a process set, or progression set as some call it. The minting of a high-relief medal is much more involved than that of a circulating coin or a token. A circulating coin is designed to fit into a manufacturing process that allows it to be struck in large quantities in a short period of time. Minimizing the number of operations needed and the automation of these operations is stressed. The minting of a high-relief art medal although engineered to be as efficient and as cost effective as possible still requires many additional steps and can not hope to match the production of coins in volume or velocity.

The numismatic process set is therefore typically a set of examples of a specific medal that have been pulled out of the manufacturing process at key intervals to illustrate the steps used in its minting. All begin with a blank or planchet and end with a completely finished medal but it is what takes place in the middle that is so fascinating to the collector. The study of the stages during the striking of a medal is like taking a mini-course in metallurgy. One learns about the concepts of annealing or softening metal, how to harden metals, what is meant by work hardening and about metal flow. Many differences in the striking of medals compared to that of coins also becomes evident. The sizing, trimming and finishing stages of medal production have no equivalent in coin production and are quite fascinating. Process sets can have any number of examples in them but those related to the official presidential inaugural medals range from six to nine pieces. The chart below shows which official inaugural medals plus a couple of unofficial medals are known to have had process sets made, the number of pieces in the set and an estimate of how many were made.

Want to learn more about the design and manufacture of an art medal? First, there is an excellent photo essay titled "Creating a Presidential Inaugural Medal" in Joe Levine's book Collectors Guide to Presidential Inaugural Medals and Memorabilia (Johnson & Jensen, Danbury, Conn.; 1981) that illustrates the design and striking of the 1981 Ronald Reagan official inaugural medal. Next is the video The Medal Maker (Mike Craven Productions, 1997) which is a modern commentary built around footage originally done by Medallic Art Company in 1929 chronicling the creation of the Special Medal of Honor for the National Sculpture Society by Laura Gardin Fraser.