Fun with tiny text on a small coin

[chrisild]

Came across some interesting photos in a jewellery forum. Or maybe I should I write that I was told to have a look there. Anyway, it was worth it! In that forum, somebody had a very specific request - he wanted to have a silver pendant made, a tiny sword with Arabic text engraved. So they talked about how small manual engravings can be.

Out of curiosity, Mario Sarto (a jeweller and designer in Bad Salzuflen, NW) tried a few things out, such as this 1 cent coin - image attached below. The diameter of such a piece is about 16 mm. He wrote his name "into" the digit 1 (and yes, he used a magnifying glass of course). The initial M has a height of 0.7 mm! He writes that it should be possible to create an even smaller one. Problem is that the thin copper layer is a little soft; so he had to go to the steel core and "scratch" that ...

Christian

[chrisild]

While Sarto was busy with coins anyway, he turned the "1" of a €1 coin into a (Greek style?) face.
http://www.goettgen.de/schmuck-foren/ftopic8569-45.html

Christian

[Figleaf]

Sure, engravings can be made a lot smaller. What's the point of writing something people can't read, though. I like it when an artist gets inspired by a coin and starts playing with it. Coins are so commonplace, they invite out-of-the-box thinking.

Peter