Zecchino d'Oro Zecchino d'Oro Zecchino d'Oro (; meaning "Golden Sequin") is an international children's song festival that has taken place every year since 1959. It is broadcast by Rai 1. It was started by Cino Tortorella, and the first two festivals were held in Milan. In 1961, the festival was taken up by the Antoniano Institute and moved to Bologna. In 2009, Cino Tortorella left Zecchino d'Oro. In 1963, Mariele Ventre, a conductor and director of young performers, created the Piccolo Coro dell'Antoniano Children's Choir (called Piccolo Coro "Mariele Ventre" dell'Antoniano after her death in 1995, and directed by Sabrina Simoni). From
Coining (mint) die, ~17,000 strikes; "anvil" die, 36,000 strikes. The mint made an average of 20,000 coins per day, so they were making one hammer die a day and one anvil die every other day. The "hammer" dies wore out more quickly because they tended to be smaller and were hit directly with a hammer, leading to severe mushrooming on the tops. First, an artist creates a large plaster model of the coin. The plaster model is then coated with rubber. The rubber mold is then used to make an epoxy galvano. All of this takes place on a scale of around