The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1878-03-21
MAKING SILVER DOLLARS.
The Process OF AfnGIns-Progress CT the
work from the Melting to the
stamPi0E-HOW the silver IL
An0yed-The Capacity
OF the Thrae lTiub~

as that month Will require brisk work |
at the minis. It has already been |
announced in the Times that the dies for |
the new dollar are to be made from the |
design OF Mr.. Morgan, an English |
dIaughtsman. The coin will undonbt- |
eddy b. one Of the handsoinest |
that has ever been circulated IN !
matter of course, no lack of silver
in the minis to work upon. On the !
11th of December last eleven tons of sis
yer were sent to Philadelphia from the
assay Office in this city seven and half
tons were sent on the 31st day of the
same month. and at least twelve tons
more have been sent during the last
fortnight. Most of the silver received at
the Philadelphia mint passed through
the New York assay Office. There are
two coming mints besides the one in
Philadelphia, one in San Francisco and
the other in Carson city, and assaying
and refining are done in Helena, Mon
tana; Boise city, Idaho; Denver, Col,
| and at few other points in the far west.
The Philadelphia mint is capable of turn
| ing out about 81 800, 600 in coined money
a month; the San Francisco mint ST.
900, 900, and the Carson mint $500, 600.
| The minis cannot, of course, be given
dollars. The subsidiary coins must be
struck, and a certain amount of gold coin
age goes on all the time. Gold is needed BY
| the government to buy silver with, aside
| from all other purposes. tits coined mostly
in the form of dou ble-eagles. During last
month q ,210 double-eagles were coined
in Philadelphia, and 20 eagles, 20 half
eagles, 20 three dollar pieces, 20 quarter
eagles and 20 one-dollar pieces were
coined in the same time. The other
coinage of the Philadelphia mint during
February comprised 200 trade dollars,
$4,000 halfdollars, l ,461, 800 quarter
dollars, 200 twenty-cent pieces, 964, 200
dimes, 600 fVe>cent pieces, 600 three
cent pieces and 90 800 cents.
Silver is sent from the assay Office to
the Philadelphia mint pure, or 999 fine,
which Is about as pure as silver can be-
It Is sent in large bars, and when
received at the mint is melted and
allowed with copper. Coin silver is 900
fine. After being melted and allowed
the metal is cast into ingots, which are
simply bars of a convenient size for
handling. The metal is then assayed to
determine whether it is exactly of the
standard fineness. Assaying is done by
what is known as the dry or
humid process. Samples for assay
are taken while the silver is in q
, fused condition, and two assays are
made of every specimen. The silver
{ ingots then go to the coiner. They are
then rolled into strips, and as the rolling
process is apt to make the metal brittle,
it is anne8led to soften it. Silver is
, annealed simply by heating in an open
wood fire, and then being allowed to cool
gradually. The silver dollar strips are
passed through the rolls nineor ten times
before the annealing and four or five
times afterward. Then the process of an
healing is repeated. After the annealing
the strips are run through cutters which
divide them into drafts of the proper
thickness for the coins, and these, in
their return, are run though a steam
punching machine which cuts planchets
the proper sieze for the coin. From 100
to 200 are cut in a minute. AS the metal
gets greasy during the process, the plan.
chefs are dipped into bath of diluted
sulphuIic acid, which is too weak to act
upon the surface, but effectively removes
all foreign matter. The planchets are
adjusted; that is to say, they are carefully
weighed, and all that are lacking in
/ weight are cast aside; such pieces are
called /" lights" and the " heavies &" are
the pieces which weigh too much and are
filed OFF. The ad jusLing is done by women.
1t is a process which requires much
! delicacy, and scales are used which are
sensitive to one sixty>feurth of a grain
After the adjusting IS finished, the next
operation is the milling, which is done
with a curious sort of a machine. The
edges of the coin are thrown up and
: grooved by this process. After another
cleaning with sulphuric acid the coins are
I ready for the die. The stamping is done
on a screw press, and both sides of the
coin are stamped at the same time. The
dies are cylindrical blocks of steel, upon
which are carved the designs to be trans
3 ferred by pressure to the coins. Art of
r high order, as we'll as fine mechanism, il
conspicuous in this part of the coming
g process. The designer in the case of the
} new silver dollar, Mr.. Morgan, first draw
his design on paper, from which is made
t a model in wax, of which a plaster cas-
f is taken, and from this cast an electrotypt
3 is taken, upon which careful revision
i is made with the graver. Thi
: which preceded it, is three or four times
q larger than the impression which appear
:. on the dollar. The design is transferred
= to a steel die by using Hills reducin,
e machine, constructed on the principle O
g the pantograph. One arm of this instru
J, ment, with a blunt point, follows tn,
: lines on the electrotype, while the othe
q arm, to which is attached a strong ant
v rapidly revolving drill, Teproduces tn
a same lines on a smaller scale upon stee
i block. By means of q press this i'm
g preston is transferred to another bloc
in intaglio and thence upon anothe
:. block, which is the parent die. Afte
each transfer the lines are carefully i'm
= proved with graver. Steel of the sam
% quality as that of which the parent di
4 is made is used for the coming dies
e They are annealed, and trued on bot
n ends. Two or three blows in the screN
- press, which is worked with a larg
wheel, secures a perfect impression, an
:, both the diverse and the reverse of
% coin are struck at once, Machinery place
- the planchets between the dies, and a
,; terwar6 drops the completed coin in
box. Two or three pieces of each cOir
age are reserved for the annual govern
~ - ment assay.
o1 The processes of melting, refining an
II assayipg gold and silver are carried o
= in the assay Office, in this city, on QUIT
- as large a scale as at the PHILADELPHIA
;, mint. Not only government work
y done here, but large deposits are mad
IT daily of gold and silver bullion by pr
"a vate individuals. Gold is always foun
81 alleged with silver, and it Is never foun
is with any other alloy. To separate tn
Is silver from the gold, the bullion is boile
y: in sulphuric acid, which removes tn
y alloy; the gold is then reboiled and n
D. duced to q coarse powder resemblim
clay. Its purity then is 998 and SO!
is The silver, mixed with copper, is run int
81 watts on the lower floor, and is purife
We and graduated, when it resembles pip,