Medals4Trade

Add Your Medal Collection Here and Help Build the Medals4Trade Database

Home > Medal Archive by Artist > Artists ABC > Medallic Artists ABC > Carr, Daniel
Return to the thumbnail page FILE 3/4 Return to start See previous file See next file Skip to end
Centennial of the First Pure Tantalum Metal Refined, 2006 78 mm, tantalum-clad copper. The medallic artist, Daniel Carr, resides in Loveland Colorado, USA and is the designer of the New York and Rhode Island State quarters. Five medals of this design were produced, 3 of which are the "R" version shown here. Up to 3 more "PG" versions may be produced at a later date. Tantalum is a very interesting metal - non-toxic, very hard yet ductile and dense with a grayish-purple luster. It is used in electronics and chemical processing due to its resistance to corrosion and acids. Due to the hardness, a pure tantalum piece would be impossible to strike as a medal with any significant relief, especially in a large diameter such as this piece. So this one was done using a pure copper core coated with 9995 tantalum. Tantalum can not be plated like gold or silver. Due to tantalum's extremely high melting point, a very expensive process (performed in Denmark) must be used to coat the tantalum onto copper. This medal has a small hole in the edge at 12:00 where an electrode was attached for the coating process. This medal started out as a copper blank. It was then struck with the medal dies four times under 600 tons of pressure. Next it was sent to Denmark for tantalum coating. During that time, the original pair of dies were accidently destroyed. So a second pair of dies was made. The tantalum-coated medal was overstruck by the second die pair to smooth out the surface. But the second die pair had a slightly smaller diameter on the rim lettering. So some double-striking is evident as a result. Tantalum is known for use in cutting tools (although the cheaper tungsten carbide has generally replaced tantalum carbide). The obverse shows a winged angel bearing tantalum from the Earth. On the left she holds a lighting filament in the shape of the designer's initials (tantalum was once used for light bulb filaments but was replaced by cheaper tungsten). On the right she emits electricity (tantalum is used in electrical capacitors to store energy). Behind her is a round lens altering the focus (tantalum is used in refractive lens glass). The atomic symbol and number for tantalum is "Ta" and "73". 73 stars around the rim denote the atomic number. The reverse is a symbolic representation of tantalum (a "TANTALUM" sword) protecting against the ravages of heat and corrosion (symbolized by the fire-breathing dragon).

Centennial of the First Pure Tantalum Metal Refined, 2006

78 mm, tantalum-clad copper.

The medallic artist, Daniel Carr, resides in Loveland Colorado, USA and is the designer of the New York and Rhode Island State quarters.

Five medals of this design were produced, 3 of which are the "R" version shown here. Up to 3 more "PG" versions may be produced at a later date.

Tantalum is a very interesting metal - non-toxic, very hard yet ductile and dense with a grayish-purple luster. It is used in electronics and chemical processing due to its resistance to corrosion and acids. Due to the hardness, a pure tantalum piece would be impossible to strike as a medal with any significant relief, especially in a large diameter such as this piece. So this one was done using a pure copper core coated with 9995 tantalum. Tantalum can not be plated like gold or silver. Due to tantalum's extremely high melting point, a very expensive process (performed in Denmark) must be used to coat the tantalum onto copper. This medal has a small hole in the edge at 12:00 where an electrode was attached for the coating process.

This medal started out as a copper blank. It was then struck with the medal dies four times under 600 tons of pressure. Next it was sent to Denmark for tantalum coating. During that time, the original pair of dies were accidently destroyed. So a second pair of dies was made. The tantalum-coated medal was overstruck by the second die pair to smooth out the surface. But the second die pair had a slightly smaller diameter on the rim lettering. So some double-striking is evident as a result. Tantalum is known for use in cutting tools (although the cheaper tungsten carbide has generally replaced tantalum carbide).

The obverse shows a winged angel bearing tantalum from the Earth. On the left she holds a lighting filament in the shape of the designer's initials (tantalum was once used for light bulb filaments but was replaced by cheaper tungsten). On the right she emits electricity (tantalum is used in electrical capacitors to store energy). Behind her is a round lens altering the focus (tantalum is used in refractive lens glass). The atomic symbol and number for tantalum is "Ta" and "73". 73 stars around the rim denote the atomic number.

The reverse is a symbolic representation of tantalum (a "TANTALUM" sword) protecting against the ravages of heat and corrosion (symbolized by the fire-breathing dragon).
Carr,_Daniel,_Fort_Collins_coin_Club_50th_Anniversary_Medal,_brass,_110_struck,_2005-combo.jpg Carr,_Daniel,_Fort_Collins_coin_Club_50th_Anniversary_Medal,_39_mm,_silver,_150_produced,_2005-combo.jpg Carr,_Daniel,_Centennial_of_the_first_pure_tantalum_metal_refined,_2006-small.jpg Carr,_Daniel,_Nikola_Tesla,_One_of_5_minted_in_pewter,__2006-63mm-combo.jpg