MINT 335 



other sort, called milled money, was first fabricated to be current in England in this 

 manner : first, the gold or silver is cast out of the melting-pot into long flat bars, 

 which bars are drawn through a mill (wrought by a horse), to produce the just thick- 

 ness of guineas, half-guineas, crowns, half-crowns, shillings, &c. Then with forcible 

 engines called cutters, which answer exactly to the respective sizes or dimensions of 

 the money to be made, the round pieces are cut out from the flat bar, shaped as afore- 

 said (the residue whereof, called sizel, is melted again), and then every piece is weighed 

 and made to agree exactly with the intended weight, and afterwards carried to other 

 engines (wrought secretly), which put the letters upon the edges of the larger silver 

 pieces, and mark the edges of the rest with a graining. The next thing is the blanching, 

 performed as above ; and at last every piece is brought to the press, which is called 

 the mill (wrought of the strength of men), and there receives the impression, which 

 makes it perfect milled money.' 



The processes now used are as elaborate as the old methods were simple ; but con- 

 sidering the requirements of the present day, and the enormous quantity of money 

 produced, it must not be expected that our coins will, for depth of engraving, bear 

 comparison with those of the Romans, who, though succeeding in producing finished 

 works of art, seem to have forgotten the wear and tear to which they would be sub- 

 jected, and so left them, as a rule, free from a protecting edge ; hence they would lose 

 their image and superscription at a far earlier date from their birth or manufacture 

 than would well-made coins of the present period. 



It was formerly believed that gold could be sent to the Mint to be coined free of 

 charge to the importer ; such, however, was not the case. By the Act 33 Viet. cap. 

 10, several Acts relating to the coinage were repealed, and all persons obtained the right 

 to send gold to the Mint on certain specified conditions. The standard for gold coin is 

 fixed, by the Act now referred to, at ' twenty -two carats fine and two carats of alloy in 

 the pound weight Troy.' The same that has obtained since 18th Charles II. Silver 

 is also maintained at the former standard, ' eleven ounces two pennyweights fine silver 

 and eighteen pennyweights of alloy in every pound weight Troy.' The Bank of 

 England is practically the only ' importer ' of bullion to the Mint, and by coinage 

 makes a considerable profit merely from its exceptional circumstances ; but for full 

 details, we refer the reader to Ansell's ' Royal Mint,' (3rd edition, Effingham Wilson), 

 where will be found elaborate discussions upon the various modes of proceeding, as 

 well as on the loss and gain in the different operations : subjects which are manifestly 

 unfitted for this work. 



When the authorities of the Bank of England desire to coin gold they send at stated 

 intervals 'importations' of 200 or 300 ingots, each weighing about 180 ounces Troy, 

 and previously assayed. Upon arrival at the Mint these ingots are again weighed and 

 assayed, and in accordance with the amount of gold they contain they are alloyed with 

 copper or enriched by the addition of fine gold, to bring them to the fineness of 

 standard or crown gold, so that each coin when formed shall contain 22 parts of pure 

 gold and 2 parts of alloy. The ingots having been thus ' potted' or rated are taken 

 to the melting-house, where their individuality is finally lost, for it is here that they 

 are formed into bars for coining. 



In the Mint there are many furnaces ; each furnace being 12 inches 1519 



square, and 24 inches deep to the top of the bars. The melting of 

 the gold is effected in a plumbago crucible, A, shown in fig. 1519. 

 It is 9| inches deep, and 7 inches across the top of the inside. 

 The pot previously annealed is placed on a bottom which stands 

 upon the two centre fire-bars. The bottom is intended to protect 

 the base of the pot A from the stream of air which is necessary to 

 the combustion of the fuel, but which would destroy the pot. The 

 pot is then covered by its muffle, B, and lid c, and surrounded by 

 fuel, which, as it burns up, warms and then heats the pot to redness, 

 but so gradually that there is no great risk of breaking the pot. 

 When the pot has become of a full red heat the ingots are carefully 

 placed in it, and the alloy added by means of a funnel to prevent 

 any being thrown on one side ; the pot is then covered up and allowed to remain 

 till the whole mass of metal has liquefied. The foreman then stirs it with a rod 

 made of the same substance as the pot, which is a compound of blacklead and 

 Stourbridge clay, and is fully described under CRUCIBLE. The fluid metal is allowed 

 to remain in the furnace till it has acquired a peculiar appearance, known by experience 

 as indicating the temperature to be such that the metal when poured into the moulds 

 will produce solid and workable bars. At this point the firing is removed, and the 

 lid and muffle taken from the pot, which is lifted from the furnace by an assistant by 

 a hand crane. The foreman then conveys the pot with its contents by means of a pair 

 of tongs, which clamp it to the frame of moulds, when his assistant brings forward a 



