The first coins were made by stamping a blank between two hand-carved dies. This type of coin manufacturing stayed the same for about 2,200 years, from about 600 B.C. to 1600 A.D. The bronze dies, the part that actually puts the impression on the coin, had to be hand carved with tools of that time period. This is amazing because of the detail that was accomplished by the ancient Greeks and Romans. This process also made for unique coins because the bronze dies were not in the same place every time and the blanks were not always the same shape. It wasn’t until the 1600’s when the screw press was invented and round symmetrical coins were starting to be produced. In addition, for over 2000 years, gold, silver and bronze coins were used for their value of the metal.