“How
to make a coin”
Have you ever wondered how to make a
coin? Well here is how you do it. First all coins start as a sheet of metal.
The metal strips are 13 inches wide and 1,500 feet long. Next the strips are
wound into big coils that are easier to move. Each of the coils is fed through
a blanking press. The blanking press punches out round discs. The round discs
are called blanks. The strip of left over metal is called webbing. It’s
shredded and recycled, usually into another sheet of metal.
The Mint doesn't create ordinary
blanks for pennies it buys them. However the Mint has fabricators with Zinc and
Copper that are used to create penny blanks. Since nickels, dimes quarters and
half dollars and dollar coins are all different sizes so are their blanks.
They’re even a mix of different metals, but blanks needs to be prepared before
they can mint them.
First the blanks are heated in an
annealing furnace to soften the metal. Then they go through the washer and
dryer. This makes the blanks nice and shiny. It’s not the bad blanks but the
good that are upset.
Why is that? Upsetting is the next
step in the process. A machine called upsetting mill, raises a rime around the
edge of the blank. If you run your fingers around a coin, you can feel its
raised edge.
At this point the round piece of
metal is still a blank. This makes sense – it doesn’t yet have the designs and
lettering that make it a coin. The process of adding these items is called
striking. The upset blanks to go through the coining press. All at once, this
machine strikes the pictures, amount, and wording on both sides of the blank.
Now it’s a genuine United States coin.
Not all coins are ready to
circulate. Some need to be remade. That’s why after they are struck; coins must
be inspected before they can leave the Mint. First the press operator uses a
magnifying glass to spot-check a new batch, making sure that the designs and
inscriptions came out correctly. Then the coins are put through a coin sizer,
this machine screens out any misshapen coins or coins that are dented. And that
is how you make a coin!
Thanks for sharing this interesting process. I like the language you used like blanks, and striking and upsetting. Were you surprised that each coin is inspected by a magnifying glass? It makes sense. It is so important that all coins are just right or they look fake? How many coins are made each year?
ReplyDeleteThe U.S mint makes 28 billion coins each year
DeleteHi Josh,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was little, one of my jobs was to fill my mom's and dad's loose change into paper coin rolls. That felt like a very important job. Now there are coin sorting machines at banks and stores that do this work very quickly.
Have you ever used a coin sorting machine or sorted coins by hand in to paper rolls? Which job do you prefer?
Janet
Holy cow, Josh! Thank you so much for such a detailed description of how money is made. I have been to the US Mint before and you described exactly what I got to see there.
ReplyDeleteGreat job!
You know, every country has its own coins, paper bills or some kind do money. You did. Great job explaining how ours are made and I learned some new words from reading what you wrote.
ReplyDelete