VOCABULARY TERM: ROCKER DIES

Rocker Dies. A pair of dies engraved on the curved interface surfaces, one convex and one concave. Unlike roller dies where the designs were engraved on cylinders and continuously rolled on a strip of metal (then blanked or cut out afterwards), an individual blank was impressed between a mated pair of rocker dies which were rocked back and forth under pressure until the design was struck up. This method required a special rocker press. It was intended to replace the screw press but did not.

Both of these coinage methods proved impractical: the rocker dies because of imperfect impressions and misshapen coins they created, and the roller die for the manual trimming necessary for individual coins after cutting out.

To read the complete entry on the Newman Numismatic Portal, see:
Rocker Dies (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/dictionarydetail/516668)

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