CREATION OF A SOVEREIGN.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2331, 26 June 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

CREATION OF A SOVEREIGN.

ine ±ioyal Mint, situated on Towei Hill, consists of a series of room) buildings, in which the various pro cesses of the coining of the medium o exchange of this country are carried qui from .beginning to end. .. The metal: required tire received in burs and seni out in sterling .coin, the. entire process being carried on by ingenious machinorj within thw enclosed buildings.' Tht irst important process is that of mailing he.bullioii,-which is done ili crucibles iver furnaces of intense lieat. Separate urnnces are used for gold arid ach metal being' treated in a different oom, The melting of valuable metal in tails considerable lons, as a portion of he gold or silver will onter the commsition of the crucible knell'. This is, lowever, afterwards looked to, the rncibles being broken and ground intc i tins powder by machinery, the metal ieing subsequently ' recovered and efined. The metal having been uelted and mixed with its proper, pro. lortion of alloy, is cast into oblong mrs, from which coinage is struck, Plie bars are. not, as yet, ready-for' the ras, however. They are too thick, md their substance somewhat. uneven, To remedy this they are taken to 'the olling-room, where each bar is passed letween steel'rollers revolving aguinsi iicli other with great force, This irocess flattens the bars'to the requiret hickiiess, and makes.' them perfectly ivenaud bright, 'At this stage the latteiled'bars are tested by having t 'blank,"i.e.; circular■ piece of iiieta' limilar. to a coin,' but' without tinj mpressSioii, stnck'out of it. The blanl s then; carefully weighed, and if founc o be within two-tenths ot a grain o lie exact weight tho' bur is of tht ight thickness and substance, If thf dank varies beyond,this amonntvhich is allowed by jiiw, and techni ally known as th« " r«me'dy"-the baj a condemned and put aside to b< ecast, . Af£or being passer], tht fattened bars, which are really fl«i heets of metal of the same, thickness s (he coins into which they are to bi nude, are taken to another room, when , number of ingenious machines ari tamping blanks out of the sheets o uetiil at thej rate of about 900 a ttiiniitf t each raat'liitie. The work is tendec y a number of lads, and is continuous ■he blanks, as soon' as -'struck, an ilaced on trays, and- passed on to -an ither set oi boys, who examine 'then ejecting the faulty ones and' retainiiij hose which are perfect.' 'They' an lext placed ill another machine, where hey are marked, i,e., have a slight vim •aised round/the edge .to", protect tht aco of tho coin when passing m mrrency. -•.The ' next stage .is, the innealing, which is conducted in a vasl workshop containing' huge fiirnabes Jiipalile of receiving many thousimd pounds worth',of half-finished'- coins at ii time. The i blanks ar<? here placed in plhmliago crucibles,,, and having been brought. to, a cevtain heat, are plunged into water to cool and .soften. When cold they come out quite bright and soft-iready for the coining press, in faot, The

/. ({ \ f; }■ •, t vp.rH 7 ?* 1 — """ l t'lii)'coining, stnnips \ although riot sight' bfuHilesfilbllshmfejit.' '.' ( , with grfat|^iiieth'tisklaii(l f 'jil'ecision. A^, i WjrjiolMf, .on, it ■noißelessl/f , ilifd"^ ! od grip, impart' thfe ''impressions 'pn th(j obvflWfitjiKf- o[., -nnd livwlucn these ftiaebiiles do their work] i fl i Jitljlf /.l|'Sßj tljttiii/.nial'vijlldusl/Vhile, I is ,'(4Mlßi!gMein^ wrm tire: j ||S nre j now 'ready to 1m weighed, ; and-.are. 1 /takpn to :the. wuighing-roofli • containing some' i>f the' rimst" wonderful machineryfixisten'OP; approaching h'Jliiah intelligence iii'lliHrdeliijato task- ; it, ■ (Tlie, new; coins ai'it placed in long trays loading: to a series of machines, which by an- ingenous arrangement'permit them to roll down n j trough one at it time. At the bottom' the coin is. held for. one moment in the. balance, and is then tipped into one of three slots ready to receive it. If of the exact weight it should be, the coin falls down the centre groove; if too heavy, it slews the balance a liitle .and toppies over into the near one; 'if, on the other hand, too light;* it switys to the further s;ot aiid fallrdown to join the other detected fight coin in the reservior below,■whence it, is afterwards sent buck to the molting room previous to being rccoined. ;Thi;iv are thirtyhveol these machines, each, employed in weighing coin throughout the entire day; : Those, .coins which have not been found wanting in the,weighing process—which is Very exact and only, allows a variation of two ten|hs of a grain-from tlie absolute standard-are sent to the ..Bank: of Kngland, >where they, are stored ready for issue when reqniied. ' ' ' '