Mason, George C. (George Champlin), 1820-1894 · New York : G.P. Putnam · leaf 511
335 ORNAMENT. by the middle ages. The coin that was made, as we have shown, by repeated blows on the metal, with a rude die and a heavy hammer, is now executed with the greatest precision by a simple contrivance. Then a few hundred impressions only could be … struck from the same die, and these at great cost of time and labor ; now the gold and silver coins unceasingly flow from our mints. The delicate tracery in gold and silver, usually executed by the chaser, has rarely the merit of a correct design, and its fitness is never considered as it should…
Art and industry · Decorative arts
Internet Archive · Getty Research Institute · Public domain (published before 1931). Free to use for anything.
