Johann Ochs

JOHANN RUDOLF OCHS (1673 – 1749 or 1750), commonly listed as Johann Ochs in coin catalogues, was a Swiss seal-cutter, gem engraver and coin-die engraver who worked at the British Royal Mint. He must be distinguished from his son, John Ralph Ochs, who became a Mint engraver later in the eighteenth century.

Ochs was from Bern and, according to Swiss biographical records, was baptised on 2 September 1673. His early work concerned seals and engraved gemstones, techniques that required highly controlled relief engraving. He visited England and returned there in 1719, subsequently working in the orbit of the Royal Mint. Published accounts do not entirely agree about the chronology of his appointments.

A British Numismatic Journal study of Mint records from 1728–1729 identifies Ochs as the craftsman responsible for punches carrying the heraldic arms. That task was distinguished from the engraving of portrait punches, for which Chief Engraver John Croker was particularly responsible. This division of responsibilities is relevant to identifying the artists behind the two sides of British coins of the early Georgian period.

Numista attributes the reverse of the George I guinea bearing four crowned shields, sceptres and the Order of the Garter star to Johann Ochs. The type appears on the guinea dated 1721. The corresponding fourth laureate portrait of George I is attributed to John Croker. These catalogue attributions concern the design and preparation of the coinage type, not the physical striking of every surviving coin.

Sources differ on Ochs's date of death: the Dictionary of National Biography gives 1749, whereas L. Forrer's biographical dictionary allows 1749 or 1750. His death is associated with London. The uncertainty is retained here rather than converted into an artificially precise date.