354 



MINT 



thus caused considerable dissatisfaction amongst the commercial world by producing a 

 great scarcity of coin, for it has happened that so much as 70 per cent, of all the work 

 done has required to be remelted. Now it can be understood if, say 50 per cent, of 

 the work produced be lost, it amounts to a practical reduction of the powers of the 

 Mint, and this reduction, wilfully incurred, has been used as an argument for the 

 necessity of building new mint premises ; instead of so expensive a plan being con- 

 tinued, tho Mint authorities should return to the proper system of coining, by which 

 the blanks were weighed before coining, and thus such pieces as were too heavy could 

 be reduced by the file. 



This file was invented by Mr. Pilcher, who, being the officer of this room, con- 

 siders his duty to bo neglected if there be any improvement capable of being made, 

 but which is left undone : ho never tires till tho invention is complete, and the 

 machine made. Mr. Albert Barre, the distinguished engraver to the Paris Mint, de- 

 clares this file to have surmounted all the difficulties he has met with in this part 

 of the process. In his own words, ' It leaves the face of the blank untouched, and 

 free to develope the work of the engraver, which no other file does or can effect, 

 because any metal which is ploughed out from the face of a blank leaves a hole which 

 is not filled up in coining.' 



Feeling that this much-desired re-introduction will take place, it is thought wise to 

 give the following description of Pilcher's file, which, if not desired for the benefit ot 

 our own Mint, will be adopted by other coining countries : Fig. 1543 is a represenU- 



1543 



tion of this compact machine. The blanks are placed in rouleaux in a tube, B, which 

 is open at top and at bottom ; through the opening at the bottom the blanks rest their 

 edges on tho file, A, which, as it revolves about 1,000 times per minute, files off motal 

 from tho edge of the blank. Each machine has two tubes, and when both have been 

 filled tho rod, c, which carries a triangular knife-edge, is released by a lever, and tho 

 knife-edge resting upon the upper edge of the blanks, B, with the intention of offering 

 resistance to their rotary motion, enables the operator to remove much or little 

 metal from their edges at pleasure by increasing the resistance which c offers by 

 adding a weight, F, on to the gallery. D is a glass dish into which the dust, as it is 

 removed from the edges of the blanks, falls, thus insuring a perfect separation of the 

 dust from the blanks. The blanks in B are kept in their position by small blocks of 

 ebony, which are secured by the thumb-screws, o. Motion is given by tho wheel, J, 

 which communicates with the driving pulley by a cord or catgut. The wholo machine 

 stands on a block of mahogany secured to a table of oak. A hopper of brass shown 

 by dotted lines is provided, with a view to catch flying particle'fe of the precious metuls. 

 Each file reduces 250 sovereign blanks per minute. 



The coined moneys are rung by boys to detect any which may be dumb or cracked, 

 and which are rejected for melting. Dumb or cracked pieces arise when bubbles of 



