Government Engraving History
Overview
The "Liberty Bowl" was created and hand engraved by Paul Revere. The message is about the founding of our government during the Revolution.
Note the elaborate engraving on this Ruger "Old Army" model cap and ball revolver, a .44 caliber replica of the renowned civil war officers' pistol
The practice of engraving dates back more than 500,000 years. Up until the 1900s, all engraving was done by hand. Before the introduction of photography into the printing process, all illustrations in mass-produced books, magazines, and newspapers were created using engraving processes. This practice survives to this day in many forms – you need look no further than your wallet to see one of the most common uses: money. The plates and stamps for federal notes and coinage are still engraved by hand, partly because the ink used in printing bills is pressed into the paper (which is actually made mostly of cotton), but also to make it harder for counterfeiters.
With mechanical advancements in the 1800s and the coming of electricity in the early 1900s, the art of engraving saw new inventions for versatility and speed. A revolution in the industry came in the early 1900s with the pantograph, a device based on a 1630 invention that allows the engraver to "trace" a small image from a larger template.
Humbly beginning as a 2-man partnership in the late 1930s, New Hermes produced the first portable engraving pantographs in the U.S., used primarily for jewelry and gifts. With the onset of World War II, with rationing and the scarcity of metals, the company had to do an about-face in order to survive. New York Board of Education, fearing bomb attacks on the city, decided to issue ID tags for school children, made from Bakelite, a type of plastic. New Hermes received its first government contract to engrave over 3 million 1-inch diameter round tags.
New Hermes earned other government contracts during WWII – such as engraving purple hearts for the Quartermaster Corps and acrylic plotting boards for radar; eventually every U.S. battleship and destroyer had a New Hermes machine on board to engrave instruction panels and shipboard signage.
Nowadays, engraving machines are divided into two basic types – rotary, using cutters spinning at high speeds, and laser, using intense laser light to "burn" the image into various materials. And like almost everything else these days, they are computer-controlled, for efficiency and quality of engraved image.
Rotary Engraving
Laser Engraving
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To learn more about New Hermes’ government engraving machines and materials please contact us.
