Being in the printing industry over the past 45+ years, I used to handle both Linotype and Monotype. Linotype stands for Line of Type, while Monotype is usually found in the form of single characters. Linotype slugs are generally remelted, unless it's a job that is going to be reprinted several times. Eventually the casting and remelting process will deplete some of the tin and antimony and the alloy become softer, and it has to be rejuvenated using a tin/antimony pig. It's usually remelted in large batches and repoured into new pigs. In case anyone doesn't know what the hole at the end of the pig is for, it's to suspend the pig via a hook and chain that is mechanically lowered into the melting pot of the Linotype machine as the slugs are cast.
Monotype is much harder as it has a higher antimony content, monotype character are generally used on print jobs that would be used over a longer period of time when say just a date or time on the printed piece is going to change say from month to month. Being much harder, the type holds up to repeated use and stay sharp on the edges, whereas over time the Linotype character will deteriorate.
I was lucky enough to get my hands on a couple of hundred lbs. of lino back in the day when the other form of typesetting took over, I'm just setting on mine for a rainy day as I have plenty of COWW's and pure lead to cast all the bullets I'll need for some time to come.
Last edited by Reloader762; 03/27/24.
