Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-02
GLIMPSES IN A MINT.
Something About the Process OF Coin-
the Precious Metals.

From the Philadelphia Times
1t Is rather difficult to attempt a descrip-
ton Of how money is made. Even ency-
clopedias, which are supposed to be equal
to any and all emergencies object to that
In a measure they are right. To get the
best idea Of the multiple and minute pro-
cesses OF minting one must be an eve wit
ness. 1t adds charm to the proceedings to
stand by the dusty furnaces, arranged in
sentinel like rows. to see them open their
jaws and to look right down into the fiery
cavern. where Unsuitable tongues Of flame
are licking up the molten masses Of silver
and gold.
A day or two ago Officer Brown standing
beside a visitor who had watched with all
the fascination of a novice the great iron
mouths opening and closing, betrayed him.
self into a neat explanation OF the process
of minting money. Officer Brown has been
many years at the mint. so the visitor list
ened with interest. as to one who spoke
win authority. Here is the process In a nut
shell.
Making money" said he, with one of
those eloquent waves Of the hand he keeps
by him to use on an explanatory occasion
such as these. lis just like making cake You
mix the dough. We mix the metal You rel
out the dough into shape, We roll out the
cakes. we cut the metal into coins. Then
We stamp them. The metal left over is
melted up and used again, Just as the cook
gathers up the left overs. rolls them again
In other words an amount OF metal, say
the Equivalent OF $4,000 in gold, which
and 10 per cent copper, is put into a black
lead crucible about the size of a peck meas
ure. 1t is kept in the furnace one hour and
gold as sacredy as the cook her cakes and
when the molten liquid is brought to the
proper consistency he takes a three-cornered
81 lad nm a hnftt els ,l,,.
monkeys head, and dips up 1900 worth of
the metal at time, pouring 1t out again
with that marvellous dexterity. which only
comes from practice, into molds holding
81 900 each. Nothing can be more beautiful
than the fiery stream Of young and pure
iron mold. When the liquid solidifies It
forms bar, or. to be technically correct
an ingot about twelve inches long and about
half an inch thick.
These ingots are subjected to a process
of rolling out which lengthens them with
out increasing the width. The bars are then
ready to be cut. One machine cuts the coin ;
another stamps them after the process OF
milling has been performed. Milling. in
mint parlance. has somewhat Of a different
1t signifies the rolling over Of the edge of
the coin preparatory to stamping IL with
the minute denticulations. which are COM
monty known as the milling. The latter is
part of the process OF stamping, and is done
at the time that the signet Is put on the
coin.
corps of women who form q considerable
part of the working force OF the mint
About 100 Of them are employed and they
attend entirely to the abusing and stamp
ing 1t may be said in explanation of the
process of the term adjusting" that every
coin before 1t is shaped is carefully weighed
II too heavy the edge is delicateiy flied until
the coin is of lawful weight; IL too light the
piece is sent to be remelted. This process
of weighing and adjusting is an employment
to which women. with their deiicacy OF
touch are well suited. They are also in
charge of the stamping. Incidentally IL may
be said that most presses stamp from so to
10 coins every minute. In one short hour Si5-
600 in ten-dollar gold pieces can be stamped
around the edge and on both sides.
There is another part of the work Which
comes under the charge OF the women en-
ployed at the mint They do the sewing At
first thought Ii seems a trfie incongruous to
associate sewing with money minting, but
all the bags used by the mint are sewed in
the building. The bags are made of white
duck and run up by machine, being sewed
twice for security. The bag making is no
small thing when you come TO consider the
number IT takes TO pack up the newly COIN
ed wealth of the country each year. The
f1ve-cent pieces are packed in $50 bags and
the pennies in SO bags. small silver in n 600
and the gold in 5000 pouches. Roughly
speaking, last year fully 1900 bags were
made up for gold alone. 5000 for silver 5000
for half dollars besides many thousands for
the smaller coins.