The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1884-01-24
VISITING THE AssAYOFFICE
How Hard Money IL Madeline Work
Of Weighing and Assayiog.


New York Tribuae.
"We don't make money here" said
Philip Van Wyck, the courteous chie1
clerk of the assay Office to q Tribune re-
porter day or two ago; THAT is, We
don't convert bullion into coin. We re-
ceive gold and silver from depositors
melt and assay the bullion, form it into
bars and ship the bars to the Philadel'
phia Mint, and in the course OF q few
days that institution sends US back the
CON-"
"But does the depositcr have to wal,
for payment until the coin gets back
from Philadelphia" asked the report.
e1.
''Not at ALL" said the chiefclerk; 1.-THE
government furnishes us with bullion
fund amounting to over $S5 900. 900. GU,
of which We pay the deposiror just as
soon as the lineness of his metal is de.
termined by assay. the weight ascer-
and the value calculated. In fact, all
our deposits, except in cases of resmelt
and re.assay, are made within two
days.
snow, said he, picking up q bright
new eagle, you know how easy it is to
spend that coin. but unless you are IA
niliar with the work You can form no
idea OF the time and labor it took to
axe it. From the time the bullion
from which this double eagle was made
reached the mint until it was covered
mo coin 1t passed through no less than
ten distinct processes, such as melting,
allowing, forming the metal into ingots,
rolling the ing0ts into strips the thick
ness Of the coin. cutting from the strips
the 'planchets' OF blanks anuealiny,
milling and adjusting the blanks and
coming or stamping the pieces. besides
sundry minor operations incidental to
minting. Now. examine that coin close.
~ under the glass and aeo how we'll the
work is executed. The Romans excelled
in the art of engraving, and many of
their coins were masterpieces. But We
can not afford to throw up our central de-
did. for in the hurry and bustle of our
day and the rapid handling and piline
of coins We would soon wear the face
of of tho goddess and wings off the eagle.
So, while our de>igns are in bold relief.
yet we make them low and protect them
as much as 20 sihle from abrasion and
wear by throwing up the edge Of the
blank, technically called milling
"The manufacturing Of dies, or the
art of die sinking, has reached great
perfection at the PHILADELPHIA mint"
continl.d Mr.. Van Wyck, and all the
coinage dies for the other minis are
made at that institution. The artist first
makes the design and then q MODEL of It
in wax three or four times larger than
the desired coin. From this model an
electrotype is taken, and then the de.
sign is transferred by means of q Hill
engraving machine which works on the
principle Of a pantograPh, to block of
steel the size of the com. But, az only
the principal design, such as the head.
eagle, orei'ie'd. can be thus transferred,
the artist fills in bv hand
the stars, date and all surrounds
ing details. Them. after removing the
ground or the face of the block, he
strikes from the block an impression in.
20 and upon q second block. This sec.
ond block is hardened and All impress
zion is transferred to third similar
block, which We call the "parent die"
or "Easter hub" and from which the
regular coinage dies are made. The i'm
preston OIL Tue In8St0T nuD lS In re-
lief or convex, while that on the work.
ing or coinage die is in ''intaglio," or
cOncave.
but let US see what they are doing in
here" said the Chief Clerk as he
stepped into the ''Weigh Room"
where truck loads of silver were being
weighed: 'That scale you see there is q
model of accuracy. and will weigh from
70, H. -
hundreth of an ounce. This small bal.
ance weighs from twenty ounces down
to the one fve-thoMsandth part Of a
grain. In fact We must hav accuracy
in this work. not onlv to check our oper-
atoms. but to maintain the reputation of
this office, which is such that our stamp
of weight and fneness passes current
in all the commercial centers of the
world"