Nice pic, but there is an element of fantasy, at least in the lower right drawing. Coins were not struck standing up after Roman times and in Roman times it is highly likely that there were two minters, taking swings in terms. It all has to do with the size and thickness of the coins.
Medieval coins are small and thin. It requires less force to strike them. If you have a chance to go to York (the one in Britain), yoy will visit the Viking museum. I hammered a coin there, sitting down and holding the upper die myself. It takes a good blow, but also, it takes holding the die at the right angle and in the centre of the flan. The flan was of a hard, white metal. I suspect that silver and gold need a more measured blow, while copper would be harder to mint.
One needs considerably more force to strike Greek and Roman coins. The hammering therefore takes heavier hammers and stronger bodies. There is a good amount of evidence to suggest that in Roman mints, three workers formed a team. One would hold the upper die and place the flans, the other two would swing the hammers in turn to produce the coins, allowing them to use both arms and to get some rest as their partner is producing a coin.
Furthermore, I suspect that in the Indian subcontinent also, there are people watching over the interests of the lord in whose name the coins are struck, making sure that they are of the prescribed weight and that the metal is used for coining only. I would have liked to see their instruments, if only an artist's impression.
Peter
