Repousse Coins (aka Push Outs or Pop Outs)

FYI - This is from a 1/26/2017 Coin World article written by Paul Gilkes:

An unusual altered coin collecting specialty focuses on pieces referred to as pop-out, pushed-out or repoussé coins.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica.com, repoussé is “a method of decorating metals in which parts of the design are raised in relief from the back or the inside of the article by means of hammers and punches; definition and detail can then be added from the front by chasing or engraving.

“The name repoussé is derived from the French pousser, ‘to push forward.’ This ancient technique, which has been used extensively throughout the history of metalworking, achieved widespread popularity in Europe during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.”

Collectors may encounter the 3-D artistry rendered on most U.S. coin denominations.

The design given 3-D proportions may not necessarily be the design originally struck into the coin, but there are exceptions.

For example, one may encounter a pushed-out rendition of John F. Kennedy forced from the reverse of a Kennedy half dollar.

One of the repoussé dies bears the raised design while the other bears a recessed area into which the raised die is forced under pressure, with a coin between serving as the host planchet.

The amount of pressure exerted determines how far the repoussé die pushes its design out from the surface of the struck coin.