Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1870-07-21

u Inc once o. the Meier ana kefinrr
aud his assistants. This is the genera /
business off Ire of the head of hi. depar.-
ment and j. also used for weighing the
necessary guauiitic, OF different metal,
used in alloying coin. The other rooms
occupying the second hoor-are the
Assay Rooms. The Separating Room :.
&c. n. Owing 10 the great amount ol
precious metal which il constantly
being changed from one form to another
10 correct transaction of the business.
visitors are not permitted TO visit a,l
the rooms.
Coin.
Ii j. estimated that hsc hundred
million dollars worth of gold ha, been
received aud weighed in the Weighing
Room. OF this sum probably nine
| tcnth> has been received since the dis
covery of gold ia California Prcviou.
70 this time the gold came from different
places. but principally from Virginia.
! North Carolina. ani Georgia Con,id-
cradle quantities. of very fine quality
have com. from Nova Scotia during the
past four or five wears Most of the
gold al present comes from Montana
| TerTitorv-Nearlv All west OF that goe-
/ TO the Branch Mint at san Francisco.
| After the metal i, weighed in the
Z Weighing Room it i. locked up in iron
boxes and conveyed 70 the Melting
Room. Alter being melted il j. poured
into iron mold- aud when cool i carried
again 10 the Weighing Il BON and WHICH
ed. The gold in it. rough state j. then
ready Ia b. transferred To the Meter
aud RciiIner to be refined for coinage
II j. then conveyed To the Separating
Room and freed from the silver or what
ever other metals may be- mixed with il
aud purified. Thence il j. conveyed Ia
the Gold aud Silver Melting Rooms.
where il Is properly mixed, melted and
poured into an iron mold. The piece
a, il comes from the mold Is called an
| ingo'. IL j. worth about $1,000. gold
\ hni'l1 about twelve inches tong. wed o.d
! shaped AT one end These are taken
/ 10 the Rolling Room aud passed through
| the rollers until they ASSUME the shape
Of long. thin strips of the requisite
| thickness for the sort Of coin required.
| Then these strips are run through the
I 4
called planchets, and taken Ia the an
healing Furnaces and rendered softer.
having become brittle and hard from
being worked. then they are weighed
aud taken 10 the Coming Room 10 be
stamped.
SILVER.
Before the discovery of silver in the
| United States the silver used bv the
Mint came mostly from Mexico and
South America. IL now comes from
the Territories through which mountain
ranges pass. Once in the Weighing
Room, it passes through the Separating
Room where il is freed from alloy, and
alter going through the Drying Cellar
where it is subjected TO pressure of
eighty tons to tree it from water. (The
gold also goes through the same pro-
cess) Thence to the Melting Room
where il is treated in the same manner
as gold. A silver ingot j. worth
$50 in silver.-It then goes through
the same process IA gold To the Coming
Room.
COPPER AND NICKEL.
Up to the year 1891 the base coin of
the United States was eXclu sively cop.
per. In this year the coinage of the
so-called nickel cents was commenced.
They contained eighth nickel. the
balance was copper. The one and two
cent pieces now contain copper zinc
and tin: copper being about 80 per
cent. The three and five cent pieces
contain one-fourth nickel, the balance
being copper. The copper used by the
Mint CONES principally from the mines
of Lake Superior. The finest is found
in Minnesota. The nickel is chiefly
from Lancaster County Penn, but it
is also found in other parts of the Coun-
try.
THE COMING ROOM.
This is one of the most interesting
departments in the Mint. On entering
the engine is seen, which is one of the
finest pieces of workmanship in the
j country, is almost entirely noiseless.
and of twenty horse power. On the
left are the Milling Machines for turn
ing up the edges Of the planchets be-
fore they are ready for the coming
press. Turning to the right we see
ten of these each one capable OF
turning out from seventy to one hum
dred and twenty coins per minute. The
amount of pressure necessary 10 pro-
duce perfect coin il from twenty to
eighty tons, varying with the size of the
coin.
How THE COIN rs STAMPED.
The Impressions on both sides of the
coin are made with one motion OF the
press. A steel die, wherein the char
acters to be placed on the coin have
been engraved, is fastened ON s.stake"
and placed on the bed of the press. 1t
is set about the thickness Of the coin be :
low the surface, surrounded by s:col-
lar" The planchsts are placed by hand