# Medalist

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{{Short description|Artist who designs small reliefs in metal (plaquettes, badges, coins, etc.)}}
{{about|designers of medals|recipients of medals|Lists of awards|and|List of sport awards|and|Lists of Olympic medalists|the manga|Medalist (manga)}}
[[File:Ferdinand II White Mountain Battle av.JPG|thumb|Commemorative [medal](/source/medal) for the [Battle of White Mountain](/source/Battle_of_White_Mountain) with portrait of [Emperor Ferdinand II](/source/Ferdinand_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor) by [Giovanni Pietro de Pomis](/source/Giovanni_Pietro_de_Pomis)]]
A '''medalist''' (or '''medallist''') is an artist who designs [medal](/source/medal)s, [plaquette](/source/plaquette)s, [badge](/source/badge)s, metal medallions, [coin](/source/coin)s and similar small works in [relief](/source/relief) in metal. Historically, medalists were typically also involved in producing their designs, and were usually either sculptors or [goldsmith](/source/goldsmith)s by background. In modern times, medalists are mostly primarily sculptors of larger works, but in the past the number of medals and coins produced were sufficient to support specialists who spent most of their career producing them. From the 19th century, the education of a medalist often began with time as an engraver, or a formal education in an [academy](/source/academy), particularly modeling and portraiture. On coins, a mark or symbol signifying the medalist as the original designer was often included in a hidden location and is not to be mistaken for the symbol of the mint master. Artistic medals and plaquettes are often signed prominently by the artist.<ref name="Austrian">{{cite web | url = http://www.muenzeoesterreich.at/eng/Wissen/How-a-coin-comes-into-being | title = How a Coin Comes into Being | work =  Austrian Mint| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120725152829/http://www.muenzeoesterreich.at/eng/Wissen/How-a-coin-comes-into-being | archive-date = 2012-07-25 }}</ref>

==Background==
[[File:HMF Prägestempel Turnose 15Jhd.jpg|thumb|Medieval [tornesel](/source/tornesel) coin die from [Frankfurt am Main](/source/Frankfurt_am_Main)]]
Artistic medals have been produced since the late [Renaissance](/source/Renaissance) period, and, after some classical precedents and [Late Medieval](/source/Late_Middle_Ages) revivals, the form was essentially invented by [Pisanello](/source/Pisanello), who is credited with the first portrait medal, which has remained a very popular type.  He cast them like bronze sculptures, rather than minting them like coins.<ref name="museum">{{cite web | url = http://www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk  | title =The History of Minting | work =The Royal Mint Museum}}</ref>

Medalists are also often confusingly referred to as "engravers" in reference works, referring to the "engraving" of dies, although this is often in fact not the technique used; however many also worked in [engraving](/source/engraving), the technique in printmaking.

The production of coins is accomplished through the use of either a die for minting coins by [hammering](/source/hammered_coinage) or, in modern times, [milling](/source/milled_coinage) or, mostly in prehistoric times and also in Asia, a mold for [casting](/source/cast_coinage) the desired object.  Artistic medals and plaquettes have mostly been produced by [lost wax casting](/source/lost_wax_casting).<ref name="royalmint">{{cite web | url = http://www.royalmint.com/discover/uk-coins/starting-with-the-finish-proof-coins | title =The Art of Minting | work = The Royal Mint}}</ref>

The design for the coin faces were originally engraved into the [coin dies](/source/coining_(mint)).  It was necessary to use a [burin](/source/Burin_(engraving)) to engrave the designs directly into the die inverted (i.e. raised areas of finished coin were hollowed out on the die) and as a mirror image so that the finished coin appeared correct.  This resulted in the early medalists being called steel-chiselers.  Medalists who were contracted by the state to produce the coins and medallions for the [mint](/source/mint_(coin)) were often given official state titles.  In addition to their state contracts, medalists were also allowed to earn income through private commissions for medals.<ref name="usmint">{{cite web | url = https://www.usmint.gov/faqs/circulating_coins/index.cfm?action=coins | title = How are Coins Made | work = The United States Mint}}</ref>

==See also==
*[List of medallists](/source/List_of_medallists)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Medallists}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Numismatics
Category:Exonumia
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Medalist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medalist) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medalist?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.