Roman Coin Production

[Gaius Octavius Drusus]

Avete Omnes:

I have a pair of questions regarding the production of Roman coins, to wit:

1) How were the blanks used to strike Roman coins produced?

2) Were the blanks struck hot or cold?

Vale:

Gaius Octavius Drusus

[Matt Lukes]

There were lots of ways- sometimes liquid metal was just dripped onto a surface to form the flans (an experienced eye was necessary to know just how much to pour), sometimes they were cast in moulds (some coins show just where the sprue was cut off), sometimes they were punched from sheet or otherwise cut- when the specific weight was important such as in the case of silver or gold.

Hot or cold striking seems to be a matter of the type of metal, and the coin size (and it's conjectural as far as I know). Large coins such as the sestertius, being of brass, probably had to be struck hot, while small coins such as denarii or aurei, because they're small and of softer metal, could be struck cold.