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Very Low Relief

Very Low Relief.  A form of bas-relief; no part of the design is detached from the background and the height of relief is absolutely minimum to convey the design. Obviously no under- cutting is permitted and this form of relief is most useful for preparing dies for coining operations where the design is imparted with a single blow. This three-word term is the equivalent of the Italian word stiacciato. There is no single English word for this low bas-relief meaning.  See relief.

excerpted with permission from

An Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Technology

For Artists, Makers, Collectors and Curators

COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY D. WAYNE JOHNSON

Roger W. Burdette, Editor


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