The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-10-25

We follow the box of these round pieces or
gold to what is known the adjusting
room. This is immense hall. in which
there n number of long tables, covered
with piles of gold blanks About the tables
sit one hundred women, each having one
of these piles before her. Each woman has
pair of small scales, SO sensitive that a
breath of air would affect their accuracy.
With these she weighs each blank. If the
balance is perfect the gold blank is dropped
into a box containing those ready for coin
ing. If IL Is a trifie too heavy the woman
rasps some gold off it's edge with fiat file.
If it is much too heavy. much too light.
It is thrown out to be melted over again.
This process goes on until every disk in
the hos, Is weighed. The perfect disks are
now ready for coinage.
HOW THE MILLING IS DONE.
The milling of the coin is the first opera
ton. BY this Is meant the making the lit
tie raised edge which you find around all
our coin. The process is a singular one.
The blanks dropped into an upright
tube, whence they fall into groove in a
steel table and are carried along between
the rim about the edge of the table and a
rapidly revolving horizontal wheel. The
distance between the wheel and the rim is
a trine less than the diameter of the disk.
SO that in the revolution the edges of the
golden disk are forced up, thus forming the
raised or mlled edges. There are no little
grooves on the edges as yet. This is left
for the coming machine. AS they come
from the milling the disks merely
round pieces of gold with raised edges.
They look dirty and they have to be poll
ished ard cleaned before they are stamped.
In company with the coiner we go to a
room on the lower floor, where the gold is
washed before coming. The yellow blanks
are carried down stairs in wooden boxes
and are emptied into big copper colander,
the lid Of which can be tightly closed.
When the coIander is nearly full it is raised
by machinery and dropped into vat Of
acid. The acid quickly eats off the dirt.
and fifteen minutes later the coins are
bright and shining. The colander is now
raised and dropped several times into
bath Of clear water to get rid of the acid,
and the washing is complete. The drying
is done in hot cylinder. This cylinder is
half filled with sawdust. After the coins
are dumped III it is made to revolve by ma
chinery, and, as the disks become dry,
they are thrown out into a barrel of wire
netting. through the meshes of which the
sawdust drops and from which the golden
disks, now of a beautiful pure yellow, flow
on into a box, in which they are carried
upstairs to be coined.
Now comes the STAMPING of the blanks
with the Impressions which turns them
from disks of gold into gold eagles. This
work is done by what is known as the
ccinfng machine. The golden blanks are
fed through a tube, which drops them
down one at time what might be
called a little brass table, AS the yellow
disks drop steel finger and thumb comes
out from the machine and grasos it and
places it between two dies, which move
up and down between enormous steel arms.
The upper die bears the picture of the
Goddess of Liberty and the lower that of
the American eagle and the lettering of
what might be called the tail side of our
gold pieces. AS the disk comes between
these two dies an enormous pressure is
exerted The dies squeeze it and second
later they drop 1T, with the perfect i'm
preston of of gold double eagles
upon 1t. At the Same time the machine
carries 1t off and drops it into box pro-
vided for the purpose. while the steel feed
ers have placed another blank between the
dies. The gold coins are now handed over
to the counters. They are separated into
two casses-known lights and heavies-
for some weigh just trifie more than
others. The light ones and the heavy ones
are mixed together and then stored away
in little bags ready for shipment to the
banks In the United States to the SUBJ
treasures. as may be demanded.
FRANK. G. CARPENTER.