Editing Planchet (section)

==History==
The preparation of the flan or planchet has varied over the years. In ancient times, the flan was heated before striking because the metal that the [[coin die]]s were made  of was not as hard as dies today, and the dies would have worn faster and broken sooner had the flan not been heated to a high temperature to soften it.

An unusual method was used to mint the one-sided, bowl-shaped ''[[pfennig]]s'' of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The planchet used for these so-called ''[[Schüsselpfennig]]s'' was larger than the coin die itself. The coins were made by striking with only one upper die on the larger planchet. As a result, the perimeter of the planchet was pressed upwards in the shape of a bowl or plate. Until the 18th century they were minted mainly in the [[Harz Mountains]]. The curved shape of the pfennig was very useful for handling small change because it was easier to grip than a flat coin.<ref>Helmut Kahnt: ''Das große Münzlexikon von A bis Z.'' (2005), p. 249.</ref>