It's really interesting!!!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CoinForge … sage/25604
"Hello CFDL
I think I now understand how Mark Hofmann was making some of his dies. I will refer to this method as the "Hofmann die manufacturing method". It is likely it is not workable exactly as I have described the method and that I have inadvertently made changes or improvements to the method. I have not field tested the method.
Also keep in mind, Mark was using other methods than this to make dies, including electroplate facing (which method he has made public, this method has been secret until today).
This is among the most dangerous / deceptive of die manufacture methods ever known to humanity for forgery. So everyone should take note, and alert their peers of this, and the weaknesses of the method I am disclosing here.
If I thought this method was no longer in use, I would not reveal it. However, I am certain there are Hofmann dies of this type still active, and I believe there are forgery gangs in Chicago USA and elsewhere currently using this method of die manufacture. The method appears to be a lost art in Utah now. So the detriments are outweighed by the benefits of making this public. However, I can assure everyone, that I am aware, the public revelation of this method changes EVERYTHING in the area of forgery of pressed or struck metal objects and detection of forgery.
The method is actually rather simple, and does not require much in the way of equipment or expertise. Sometimes, great genius, including evil genius, can seem simple with the benefit of hind sight.
1. A pool of liquid steel is generated, and molten droplets of steel are carried on a super heated stream of air. I believe this can be accomplished just with a torch.
2. A plastic matrix is made for the host.
3. The host is dipped into liquid nitrogen.
4. The host is introduced into the steam of heated air with the droplets of steel, held by the edges, and turned until it is fully coated with steel.
5. The host is cooled and then cut out near the edges with a circular saw (the center is cut out).
6. The steel surfaces introduced to the host are removed.
7. The steel surfaces from the host are welded into the face of dies being centered in the dies.
8. The dies are annealed.
9. Prepared blanks are struck with the dies in a collar.
10. The product is then struck in the plastic dies to smooth out irregularities from the transfer process.
Of course there can be other variations of this process, or steps can be added or left out. By my study of the Hofmann die hoard, I can see he was developing and improving his methods over time in the late 1970's to early 1980's when these dies were made and in use.
Weaknesses of the method.
1. Sometimes the steel die facing is not correctly centered in the die. I have seen this in hand in a small hoard of Hofmann 1/10 ounce fake US gold eagles dated to the period of this hoard of dies. I did not have the opportunity to do density tests or cut them open, and they were returned to the Hofmann female gang member unpurchased as fakes. I told them they were fake, which was likely reported back to master Hofmann, no additional runners were sent with such wares to me. I assume one ounce gold rounds would have been forthcoming, and that these are in limited supply as stockpiled by the gang in storage lockers, not in current production. I suspect this is one way the Hofmann gang continues to fund itself and put money on mater Hofmann's prison books.
2. Sometimes there is slight roughness, or smoothing of roughness, at the edge of the facing. The facing does not go all the way to the edge of the die, in all examples I have seen (both product and dies).
3. Sometimes with heavy use, the solder under the facing erodes away leaving an overhang. This can lead to slight caving in near the edges of the facing, or even to metal working up under the facing in the product slightly, or too steep of figural edges next to the facing in the product.
4. The metal at the edge beyond the facing is of a different microstructure and composition than the facing, so the product beyond the facing gives a different type of surface, hardness variances and polish than the facing. Something like the "join" factors I describe in my book for other types of forgery. There will be a line between the facing and the die edge which is not faced with changes across that line that should not be there.
5. The facing is a near perfect copy / negative of a coin or strike or press from dies such as medallic, not a near perfect positive of a die. Dies are not perfect negatives of the products struck or pressed from them. See my CFDL past posts and my book "Roman Coin Forgery" for methods to detect the difference between a product from an original die and a product from a die which is a near perfect negative of a product from a die.
6. An annealed surface does not generate the same type of surface on the product as an engraved surface does. The differences are subtle, and public information on this is woefully inadequate at this time.
7. In case the host is multiple struck, the product will in effect be a single strike (there are differences) .
8. There may be differences between the blanks used by the forger in spurious issues, and those used in legitimate issue, such as with precious metal, including in Hofmann ancient coin fakes (greedy guy). The center of the spurious product will assay lower than official issue. Also of course this was the whole point with his bullion issues, that they will assay low in precious metal content (very low, but they are perfect at the surface, and perfect in volume and density, I suspect in the gold also due to introduction of tungsten granules into the core as float in the gold).
9. The product will often exhibit a sort of spotted effect, which is often confused with spark erosion, but in fact is an effect from the liquid drops of metal causing damage to the host upon impact.
Of course this information is now in the public domain, and may be transmitted in any form with or without credit to me, all or in part, without copyright protection. This is my own work, I had no help with this, except research and study of dies. I am however in debt to many on this, as none of us stand alone in this sort of work. We all build upon the work of others, including the work of forgers such as Mark Hofmann the evil genius and mad bomb murderer.
Best
Alan Van Arsdale"
Это не я! Это НАрцессян виноват! Зачем он у себя в книге поместил картинку ауреуса ВЕра? Если бы не он, я бы про экз СтасИгоря не вспомнил бы и в САrс. не полез...
