Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1893-12-09
GLlMPSES IN A MINT.
Something About the Process of Coming
the Precious Metals.

I something ABOUT bne PROCESS OI coming
the Precious Metals.
/ 1t is rather difficult to attempt a de-
scription of how money is made. Even
/ encyclopedias, which are supposed to
/ be equal to any and all emergencies
/ object to that. In measure they are
right To get the best idea of the
multiple and minute processes of mint
ing one must be an eyewitness. 1t
adds charm to the proceedings to stand
by the dusty furnaces, arranged in
Scntincl-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.
y day or two ago Officer Brown.
standing beside visitor who had
watched with all the fascination of a
novice the great iron mouths opening
and closing, betrayed himself into ii
neat little explanation of the process
of minting money. Officer Brown has
been many years at the mint, so the
visitor listened with interest, as to one
who spoke with authority. Here is the
process in a nutshell:
Making money! said he, with one
of those eloquent waves of the hands
he keeps by him to use on explanatory
occasions such as these, "iS Just like
making cake. You mix the dough. we
mix the metal. You roll out the dough
into shape, we roll out the metal into
bars. You cut the dough into 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 and cuts more cakes"
In other words an amount of metal.
say the equivalent of $4,000 in gold,
which chemically is made up of 80 per
cent. gold and 10 per cent. copper, is
put into blacklead crucible about the
size of peck measure. 1t is kept in
the furnace one hour and fifteen min
IteS. The workman watches bis gold
as sacredly as the cook her cakes and
when the molten liquid is brought to
the proper consistency he takes a three
corncred black-lead cup, about the size
that would fit monkeys head, and
dips up $1,000 worth of the metal at q
time, pouring it out again with that
marvellous dexterity which only comes
from practice into moulds holding
$1,000 each. Nothing can be lIore
beautiful than the fiery stream of
young and pure gold as it glidas into
the locked arms of the iron 1lould.
When the liquid solidifies it forms a
bar, or, to be technically correct, an
ingot about twelve inches long and
about half an inch thick.
These ingots are subjected to pro-
cess of rolling out which leng.hcns
them without 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 par
lance, has somewhat of Il different sig
MITIGATION than in ordinary vernacular.
1t signifies the rolling over of the edge
of the coin preparatory to stamping it
with the minute dcnticulatiOnS. which
are commonly 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.
Speaking of stamping introduces the
large corps of women who form a con-
siderable part of the working force of
the mint. About 100 of them are en-
ployed, and they attend entirely To the
adjusting and stamping. 1t may be
said in explanation of the process of
the term "adjuSting" that every coin
before it is shaped is carefully weighed.
If too heavy the edge is delicately filed
until the coin is of lawful weight: if
too light the piece is sent to be remclt-
ed. This process of weighing and adj
justing is an employment to which wo-
men, with their delicacy of touch, are
well suited. They are also in charge
of the stamping. incidentally it may
be said that most presses stamp from
so to 40 coins every minute. In one
short hour $4,000 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 employed at the mint They
do the sewing. At first thought it
seems Il tritle 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
sewcd twice for security. The bag
making is no small thing when you
come to consider the number it takes
to pack up the newly coined wealth of
the country each year. The tivc-ccnt
pieces are packed in $50 bags and the
pennies in $40 bags, small silver in
$1,000 and the gold in $1,000 pouches.
Roughly speaking last year fully 1000
bags were made up for gold alone, 16,-
900 for silver, 5000 for half dollars,
besides many thousands for the small
er rcoins.-Philadelphia Times