Last night I watched the most amazing documentary on the US MINT and its daily operations. I was blown away by the articulation of the stamping processes, metallurgy, coin design and most importantly, their places in our culture. Like the surface markings…the edges, diameters and weights and their differences in say, the hand of a blind person. Amazing.
And man, the relief sculptors. Add that to my list of hopeful future professions. I’ve done a lot in my 27 years…including a summer stint as a pizza wagon technician in a seedy carnival, a couple summers scrubbin’ some 500,000 dishes in the Alaskan interior and designed want-ads for gruff rancher types in Central Oregon. Sure, graphic design has been the most rewarding as of yet, but, if this stuff doesn’t make me my millions, I might have to pursue coin relief sculpture. It is so fascinating. I was off to my coin jar, grabbed a handful and my magnifying glass and started studying the different signature markings on the coins. The acceptable tolerances are down to the thousands of an inch…any slight imperfection in the construction warrants the coin starting the process over again with a trip to the “melting down” room.
So add that to my list of good, honest professions:
- Coin Sculptor
- Long Haul Truckin’
- Saw Painter
- Railhands
- Bounty Hunter
- VCR Repair
- Sheet Metal Scrap
- Tool+Die Sales
- Graphic Arts
- Snow Removal
- Lego Designer
- Wood Cuttin’ + Stackin’
- Roadie/Guitar Tech
Everyone have themselves a good day, and enjoy whatever profession that you call yer own. Back to the mouse and keyboard…we’ve got a ton of promotional shit to hammer out.
