THE WORLD'S ADVANCE 



335 



made of solid steel and weighs several 

 tons, for the striking of the coins is a very 

 delicate task and must be done upon a 

 base that is absolutely stable and rigid. 

 As is the case with the other machines 

 in the miniature mint, the stamping press 

 is automatic and runs at high speed. The 

 blanks are put into a vertical tube at one 

 end of the press and fed automatically 

 to the lower die which remains stationary 

 while the upper one descends upon it, 



on the two faces and the letters or etch- 

 ings on the outer edge. An instant later 

 the completed coin drops into a box be- 

 low. The machine does its work at the 

 rate of about 100 coins a minute. 



After undergoing the final inspection, 

 the new coins are weighed and then 

 counted by being placed on an ingenious 

 counting board which is of a certain cal- 

 culated size, so that when the coins are 

 spread evenly upon it in a single layer, 



The White Apparatus in the 

 Foreground is the Electro- 

 lytic, or Metal Refiner. At 

 the Extreme Right is the 

 Electric Furnace. The 

 Large Machine in the Cen- 

 ter is the Rolling Mill. 



The Coining Press in Which Blank 



Coins Are Fed to the Dies and 



the Impression Stamped. 



At the Left May Be Seen 

 a Machine for Polishing the 

 Coins. The Man at the 

 Extreme Right is Operating 

 a Counting Board. In the 

 Foreground is the First 

 Coining Press Used by the 

 American Government. 



catching the blank between the two dies 

 as they come together. The pressure 

 exerted amounts to 160 tons, which 

 stamps at the same time the impressions 



the number of pieces is instantly known. 

 Much time is thus saved, since it is un- 

 necessary to count each coin individual- 

 ly. This completes the process, for the 



