The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1888-01-27
How Hard money is Made.


ave don't make money here" said the
courteous Chief Clerk of the Assay
Office; that is we don't convert bu Lion
INTO coin We receive gold and silver
from depositors, melt and ASSAY the bull
ion, form 1t into bars and ship the bars
TO the Philadelphia Mint, and in the
course of a few days that institution
sends us back the coin. Government
furnishes US with bullion fund amount
ing TO over thirty-iive million dollars.
out OF which We pay the depositor lust
rs soon rs the Iineness of his metal Is
determined by assay, the weight asccr-
IA ned AMI the value calculated In
fact, all our deposits, except in cases OF
re-melt and rc-assay, are made within
two days.
"Now," said he, picking up 4 bright
new double eagle, you know how easy
il IS to spend that coin, but unless Won
are familiar with the work you can form
no idea OF the time and labor il took TO
make it. From the time the bullion
from which this double eagle was made
reached the mint, until il was converted
into com, II had passed through no less
than ten distinct processes, such as melt
ing, ALLOWING, forming the metal into
ingots rolling the ingots into strips the
thickness oi com, cutting from the
strips the 'planchets' or blanks an
healing, milling and adjusting the
'blapks' and coming or stamping the
pieces, beside sundTy minor operations
incidental to milling. Now, examine
that coin closely un Ter the glass, and see
how well the work Is executed. The
Romans cXcellcd in the art OF engraving.
and many OF the coins were masterpieces.
But We cannot afford TO throw IN our
central designs in such bold relief rs the
Romans did, for in the hurry ami hustle
of our day and the rapid handling and
pillng OF coins, We would soon wear the
face OIL OF the goddess and WINS OF the
ea-le. So while our designs are in Told
relief, vet We make them low and protect
them as much as possible from abrasion
and wear by throwing up the edge OF
the blank, technically called milling
"The manufacture of dies, or the art OF
tiie sinking has reached great perez
ton at the Philadelphia Mint, and all
the coinage dies or other mints are made
at that institution. The artist first makes
the design, and then a model OF il in wax
three or four times larger than the de-
sired coin From this model an electro
type ia taken, and then the design IS
transferred by means of Hill engraving
machine, which works on the prime pie
OF pantograph, to a block OF steel the
size of the coin. But as only the prime
ipal design, such as the heal, eagle, or
shicll, can be thus transferred, the artist
fills in by hand the stars, date, and all
surrounding details Then, after remov-
inG the ground on the face of the block.
ne strikes from the block an impress on
into and upon a second block. This
second block is hardened and an imprCs-
sion i; transferred 10 a third similar
block. which we call the parent die or
master hub and from which the regular
coinage dies are made The impression
on the master hub is in relief, or con-
vcx, while that on the working or CON
agc die Is intaglio,' or coacavc.
'But let us see what they are doing in
here" said the Chief Clerk, as he step
ped into the Weigh Room where truck
loads OF silver were being weight. THAT
scale you see there Is molcl OF accur-
aCy, and will weigh from ten thousand
ounces down 10 one-hundredth part OF
an ounce. This small balance weighs
from twenty ounces down to the one
tve-thousandth part of grain. In fact
we must have accuracy IN this work
not only to check our operations, but to
maintain the reputation OF this o!iicr
which is such that our stamp OF weight
ami iinenrsS passes current in all the
commercial centers OF the world"