The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1893-10-14
GLIMPSEs IN A MINT.
The Process OF Coming the Precious
Metals.

1t is rather difficult to attempt de-
scription Of how money is made. Even
encyclopedias. which are supposed to be
equal 10 any and all emergencies, object
to that. In a measure they are right
10 get the best idea of a multiple and
minute processes of minting, one must
be an eye witness. II adds charm TO the
proceedings to stand by the dusty fur
naces, arranged in sentinel-li 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, stand
ing beside visitor who had watched
with all the fascination OF novice the
great iron mouths opening and closing.
betrayed himself into a neat little ex-
PLANTATION 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 nut
shell:
"Making money" said he, with one OF
those eloquent waves of the hands he
keeps by him to use on explanatory oc-
casions such as these, lis just like max
ing 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 100000 in gold,
which chemically is made up of 90 per
cent. gold and 10 per cent. copper, is
put into black lead crucible about the
size of peck measure. 1t is kept in the
furnace one hour and fifteen minutes.
The workman watches his gold as
sacredly as the cook her cakes. and when
the molten liquid is brought to the
proper consistency he takes a three-cor'
nered black lead cup, about the size that
would fit monkeys head, and dips
up $2, 900 worth of the metal at time,
pouring it out again with that marvellous
dexterity which only comes from prac-
tice into moulds holding 81, 900 each.
Nothing can be more beautiful than the
fiery stream of young and pure gold as it
glides into the locked arms of the iron
mould. When the liquid solidifes it
forms bar, or, to be technically cor
rect, an ingot about twelve inches long
and about half an inch thick.
These ingots are subjected to q pro-
cess of rolling out which lengthens them
without increasing the width. The bars
are then ready to be cut. One machine
outs the coin, another stamps them after
the process of milling has been per-
formed. Milling, in mint parlance, has
somewhat of different signification
than in ordinary vernacular. 1t signifies
sslie rolling over of the edge OF the coin
preparatory to stamping it wis@S~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.
Speaking of stamping introduces the
large corps of women who form .cn-
siderable part of the working force Of
the mint. About one hundred of them
are employed, and they attend entirely to
the ad justing and stamping. 1t may be
said in explanation of the process of the
term "ad djustirg" 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 remelted. This
process of weighing and adjusting is an
employment to which women. with their
delicaoy 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
Sl5, 900 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 a
tritle incongruous to associate sewing
with money minting but all the bags
used by the mint are sewed in the build
ing. 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 con-
slider the number it takes to pack up the
newly coined wealth of the country each
year. The five-cent pieces are packed
in $50 bags and the pennies in $40 bags,
small silver in $1,000 and the gold in
g., 900 pouches. Roughly speaking, last
year fully 1900 bags were made up
for gold alone, 16, 600 for silver, 5000
for half dollars besides many thousands