Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-07-05
UNCLE SANS MINT
Has Cost Millions and VIII
Make Many More.
-s5S.
sPLENDIDs4@ EQUIPMENT
HOW INeoTs OF GOLD ARE TURN
ED INTO COIN.
Details of Modern Process-Economica
Misunderstanding Against
Dishonesty.


Special Correspondence of The Evening Star
PHILADELPHIA, July l. 1902
Uncle Sam will hereafter coin his east
ern money by a brand-new process and
with brand-new machinery His great
| 81, 100000 mint has at last received its
| finishing touch, and you may now inspect
! here, in the Quaker city, the best-eauipped
and most artistically modelled coin factory
| of the world. whereas, in the old Philadel-
| phia mint you were permitted only to peep
through small windows at the industry of
| dark rooms, you may in the new structure
| stroll comfortably upon high, overhanging
| galleries, and there watch every act of the
nations money makers, toiling in their
ample, well-lighted laboratories
| Yesterday after it had been closed to the
public I made a complete tour of the new
| building, and had explained to me every
| minute detail Of the improved equipment.
| I was told that on all sides of me were
| stored bullion and gold, amounting in
| value to over $3.50, 100000. Out of this
every man, woman, boy and girl in the
| United States might be given 1925.
The Melting Room.
! Leaving the deposit room, where it Is re-
| ceived, the gold and silver bullion is taken
| first to the melting room. Here are
| sixteen new melting furnaces, whose tenn
perature can be raised to 600 degrees by
| ignition of the oil fuel now exclusively
used. In the melting furnaces of the old
mint anthracite coal was alone employed,
but the present strike among the miners
of this fuel does not affect the cost of coin
| ing our money today. Piled about the gas
furnaces are keg-shaped crucibles made of
plumbago or black lead. These, needed,
are placed in the gas flame, and in them
are thrown the gold and silver bricks-the
~ at tori al IA
realm is to be made. These gold and silver
bricks are brought from all parts of the
world and vary greatly in size. Before be-
ing made into money they must be alleged
with copper until they are what is termed
1000 fine" 1000 being purity. And by the
way, there only two places in the
world where absolutely pure gold can be
found, ie., here at the Philadelphia mint
and at the Royal mint. London. All assays
are made from these standards.
/ The meters stand before their furnaces,
wearing huge mittens.. made of heavy buck
skin or crash, padded with scraps of In
grain Brussels carpet. When the precious
metal reaches certain color, which they
can detect only after long experience, but
which may be said TO be cherry red. 1t
is ready to be mSlded into ingots. But be-
fore this is done ID few drops of the molten
metal are removed blythe assayer.
A man whose eioyed hands clutch a pair
gray bowl in their Jaws. dips from each
crucible the glowing, liquid metal and pours
1t into series of clamp molds. Each set
of these is taken by second pair of gloved
hands and plunged drst into cold water,
which cools it. wisefS the hardened ingots
are removed and -dipned into muriatic acid,
which eats away1 al 5particies of foreign
matter Finally Sheyf are, placed In an
white color. Whether gold or silver. they
are all nodded to measure a foot in length,
but vary up to one and onehalf inches in
width and thickness. according to the coin
to be struck from them.
Topping Machine.
Each finished ingot comes from the mold
with blunt end or top" this being the
end of the mold in which the liquid metal
is poured. A row Of topping machines
bite off this irregularity, and from these
the bars are passed to men at benches
who file off the rough edges. The filings
from this process are caught in oilcloth-
lined boxes and carefully saved. Next the
properly shaped ingots are sent to Il long
table, where they are placed, side by side,
in a row. where a man with brand and
hammer stamps upon each a number des-
ignating its melt. The bars now pass to
the assayer, who compares the few drops
or metal taken from the furnace at the
time the melt Was made with the CORE
spondingly numbered lot of the finished
product. If the latter fails to reach 800
hne 1t must be remelted until it so assays.
lngots which run the gauntlet of the as
sayer pass next into the rolling depart
ment, which, like the melting room, has
been equipped with brand new machinery.
Between pairs of massive rollers the in
gots are passed fifteen times, by which
process they have reached just half the
thlnness required. Before this process is
completed they are sent to the annealing
or tempering furnace, where they are
heated cherry red and plunged into water
Ihen they are put through another series
Of rollers fifteen times before receiving
their proper thinness, which, of course. de-
he ,i,,1k IS a.
lshed coin to be made from them. Ingcts
which before the rolling process resembled
sticks of solder, in point of size. leave the
last rolling press in the form Of strips vary
Ing In dimension up to six feet in length
TOUR inches In width and about a sxte snth
of an inch in thickness. In the old mint
these strips were made by sort Of COM
blned rolling and pulling process which
mas now been abandoned.
Cutting Planchets.
The fiat strips of gold or silver are next
fed to series of cutting machines which
move very rapidly. with vertical motion
A man on one side feeds the carriage and |
one on the other takes out the strips bear
ing the round holes, from which the metal |
mas Deen cut. Into tray beneath each cut
ter fall the neatly trimmed disks known |
as blanks or planchets, upon which the |
mai designs are to be stamped. Blanks |
above the size of quarter are cut in sim |
5A0 NV IL oiIl edcn STRIP, otIeTS III rows OF |
two: The refuse strips are folded into con- |
Venient lengths for carriage and returned to |
the meters. GAS
The blanks or pfanshets next pass to the
cleaning department and thence to series |
o. wonderful automatic weighing machines. |
Each Of these is eomposed primarily of ten |
upright brass tubes beneath which passes |
long sliding bar Each movement of the |
bar pushes off the fen bottom planchets |
into a small basket on one end Of a small |
scale beam, Thessb coins are weighed |
instantly and are PASSED through a series Of !
troughs leading to three boxes. Into one |
box 90 falls the light into the second the |
planchets. y. ~ |
The too light 37pianachets are condemned |
Sam in his endeaSpf u give the people hon
est coin of full weight. But his economy |
equals his honesty, and all planchets which |
are too heavy are taken into an adjusting |
room. Here saw 140 women each with |
small set Of Scales and a file. They |
We're industriously filing the edges of the |
'heavies" until all came down to the stand |
ard lightness
The next step was to run all planchets Of |
proper weight through the milling machines |
which put on the. fiat rim or raised edge |
which protects each coins face from abra