From Metal to Mint: How Coins Are Made Explained!

 

 

Discover the fascinating journey coins take, from raw metal to the shiny currency in your pocket! In this video, we’ll go behind the scenes of the minting process, exploring the tools, machines, and science used to create coins.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

"May your blessings be multiplied this year and throughout all your life. Happy Thanksgiving wishes to you!"

Martinez Coin And Jewelry Exchange 

3755 Alhambra Ave Ste 1, Martinez, California

(925) 335-9500

Coin Terms To Know

Here is a list of coin terms to know when starting a collection...

Alloy: A mixture of two or more metals

American Numismatic Association (ANA): nonprofit educational organization that encourages the study of money throughout the world.

Annealing: Heating blanks (planchets) in a furnace that softens the metal

Assay: To analyze and determine the purity of metal

Bag Mark: A mark on a coin from contact with other coins in a mint bag

Bi-Metallic: A coin comprised of two different metals, bonded together

Blank: Another word for planchet, the blank piece of metal on which a coin design is stamped

Bullion: Platinum, gold or silver in the form of bars or other storage shapes, including coins and ingots

Bullion Coin: Precious metal coin traded at current bullion prices

Business Strike: A coin produced for general circulation (as opposed to a proof or uncirculated coin specially made for collectors)

Bust: A portrait on a coin, usually including the head, neck and upper shoulders

Clad Coinage: Coins that have a core and outer layer made of different metals. Since 1965, all circulating U.S. dimes, quarters, half dollars, and dollars have been clad.

Coin: Flat piece of metal issued by the government as money

Collar: A metal piece that restrains the expanding metal of a planchet during striking

Commemorative: A special coin or medal issued to honor an outstanding person, place, or event

Condition: The physical state of a coin

Counterfeit: A fake coin or other piece of currency made so that people will think it’s genuine

Currency: Any kind of money – coins or paper money – that’s used as a medium of exchange

Denomination: The different values of money

Die: An engraved stamp used for impressing a design (images, value, and mottoes) upon a blank piece of metal to make a coin

Designer: The artist who creates a coin’s design (but doesn’t necessarily sculpt the design)

Edge: The outer border of a coin, considered the “third side” (not to be confused with “rim“)

Engraver: An artist who sculpts a digital or clay model of a coin’s design in bas relief

Error: An improperly produced coin, overlooked in production, and later released into circulation

Face Value: The sum for which a coin can be spent or exchanged (a dime’s face value is 10¢) as opposed to its collector or precious metal value

Field: The portion of a coin’s surface not used for design or inscription

Grade: Rating which indicates how much a coin has worn from circulation

Hairlines: Tiny lines or scratches on coins, usually caused by cleaning or polishing

Incuse: Opposite of relief, the part of a coin’s design that is pressed into the surface

Ingot: Metal cast into a particular shape; used in making coins

Inscription: Words stamped on a coin or medal

Intrinsic Value (Bullion Value): Current market value of the precious metal in a coin

Key Date: A scarce date required to complete a collection, usually more difficult to find and afford

Legal Tender: Coins, dollar bills or other currency issued by a government as official money

Legend: Principal lettering on a coin

Medal: A metal object resembling a coin issued to recognize an event, place, person or group, with no stated value and not intended to circulate as money

Medium of Exchange: Anything that people agree has a certain value

Mint: A place where coins of a country are manufactured under government authority

Mint Luster: The dull, frosty, or satiny shine found on uncirculated coins

Mint Mark: A small letter on a coin identifying which of the United States Mint’s facilities struck the coin

Mint Set: A complete set of coins of each denomination produced by a particular mint

Mint State: Same as uncirculated

Mintage: The quantity of coins produced

Motto: A word, sentence or phrase inscribed on a coin to express a guiding national principle, such as, “E Pluribus Unum” inscribed on all U.S. circulating coins is Latin for “out of many, one”

Mylar®: Trademark for a polyester film used to store coins.

Numismatics: The study and collecting of things that are used as money, including coins, tokens, paper bills, and medals

Obsolete: A coin design or type that is no longer produced

Obverse: The front (or “heads”) side of a coin

Off-Center: Describes a coin that has received misaligned strike from the coin press and has portions of its design missing

Overstrike: A new coin produced with a previously struck coin used as the planchet

Pattern: An experimental or trial piece, generally of a new design or metal

Planchet: The blank piece of metal on which a coin design is stamped

Proof: A specially produced coin made from highly polished planchets and dies and often struck more than once to accent the design. Proof coins receive the highest quality strike possible and can be distinguished by their mirror-like background and frosted foreground.

Proof Set: A complete set of proof coins of each denomination made in a year

Relief: The part of a coin’s design that is raised above the surface, opposite of incuse

Restrike: A coin that is minted using the original dies but at a later date

Reverse: The back (or “tails”) side of a coin

Riddler: A machine that screens out blanks (planchets) that are the wrong size or shape

Rim: The raised edge on both sides of a coin (created by the upsetting mill) that helps protect the coin’s design from wear

Roll: Coins packaged by banks, dealers, or the United States Mint

Series: A collection of coins that contains all date and mint marks of a specific design and denomination

Slab: Nickname for some protective coin encapsulation methods, especially those that are permanently sealed and rectangular

Strike: The process of stamping a coin blank with a design. The strength of the imprint – full, average, or weak – affects the value of rare coins.

Type Set: A collection of coins based on denomination

Uncirculated: The term “uncirculated” may have three different meanings when applied to a coin:

• It can refer to the particular manufacturing process by which a coin is made
• It can be used as a grade when referring to a coin’s degree of preservation and quality of the strike
• It can point to the fact that a coin has not been used in everyday commerce

At the United States Mint, the term uncirculated refers to the special coining process used to make the coin, which gives it a brilliant finish. Uncirculated coins are manufactured using the same process as circulating coins, but with quality enhancements such as slightly higher coining force, early strikes from dies, special cleaning after stamping, and special packaging. Uncirculated coins may vary to some degree because of blemishes, toning, or slight imperfections.

Upsetting Mill: A machine that raises the rim on both sides of a blank (planchet)

Variety: A minor change from the basic design type of a coin

Year Set: A collection of all coins issued by a country for any one year (does not necessarily include every mint mark)

Source

10 Amazing Facts About The Coin

Coins are more than just legal tender. They can be literally worth their weight in gold. Here are 10 amazing fun facts about coins. 

1.) Where did coin tossing begin?

Tossing a coin to determine between two possible outcomes started in the time of Emperor Julius Caesar. Romans called this game of chance navia aut caput (“ship or head”), referring to the image of a ship’s prow on one side of the coin and the emperor’s head on the other.

In ancient Rome, the emperor’s word was law, so if a coin landed heads up, you had to respect the will of the emperor and carry out the action decided for that side. In Britain, the practice was called cross and pile, taking its name from the indentation from the hammer used to press the metal as the coin was struck.

2.) Can a coin make you happy?

Are we too cautious for own good when facing life-changing choices? This was certainly the conclusion of one study by Steven D. Levitt, Department of Economics, University of Chicago.

Levitt conducted a field experiment where research subjects who were struggling to make a decision flipped a coin to help determine their choice. Those who were told by the coin toss to make a change reported that they were substantially happier several months later.

3.) How many coins are there?

Euro coins first came into use in 2002. As of January 2020, there were 135 billion euro coins in circulation. Worldwide there are about 1 trillion coins in circulation.

4.) Making money from money

Coin minting in the European Union generates more than €13 billion of production, according to the Institute for Industrial Research study, “Mints in Europe EU28 from an Economist’s View” (2019) – 16,858 people’s jobs are directly or indirectly linked to coin production.

5.) Coins and ships – what’s the connection?

Sailors are a superstitious lot, and favor traditions and ceremonies that bring good luck when building a new ship. One of these is the coin ceremony, whereby mariners place one or two coins under the keel block of the new ship to bring good luck. The tradition dates back to Roman times, when coins attached to ships were said to provide divine protection.

6.) What’s the world’s most valuable coin?

Money can be worth far more than its printed value. Take the 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar, for instance, which costs $10 million, making it the world’s most expensive coin.

This is said to be the first silver coin to have been minted and issued by the US Federal Government in 1794. And worth a lot more than your average one dollar coin.

7.) And the least?

How can 2,000 coins be worth the same as one cent? That’s the case, however, with Uzbekistan’s tiyin coin – the coin worth less than any other worldwide. The tiyin is still legal tender but rarely found in circulation.

8.) Three to get married

As the legend goes, if you toss one coin into the Trevi Fountain in Rome, you’ll return to the Eternal City. If you toss in two coins, you’ll return and find love. Three coins means you’ll return, fall in love, and get married.

The coin toss became a ritual after the 1954 romantic comedy film, “Three Coins in the Fountain.” Around €1.5 million in coins is collected each year from the fountain and donated to Caritas Roma, a charity for the poor and homeless.

9.) The feminine side

It’s not just men whose faces are depicted on coins: throughout history women have also adorned our cash. Take Marianne, the national symbol of the Republic of France, whose famous face first appeared on 5 centimes coins, then the franc, and then the euro.

Cleopatra was the first female to appear alone on Egyptian coins while Queen Isabella I of Spain became the first foreign ruler to appear on a coin issued by the US. Meanwhile, Catherine the Great of Russia issued the largest copper coin ever used in circulation, namely the 5 kopeks coin, which weighed on average a hefty 51 grams.

10.) Good luck for the new year

Filipino children know how to have fun on New Year’s Eve. They fill up their pockets with coins, and when the clock strikes midnight they shake out their pockets to bring good luck and attract wealth. Scattering coins around the house, on tabletops and in drawers is also said to bring luck and money. Source

Mint Expands West

In 1849, the California Gold Rush brought a flood of people west for the chance to get rich. Transporting the gold east all the way to the Philadelphia Mint was time-consuming and risky. In 1854, a branch Mint opened in San Francisco to convert the miners’ gold into coins. By the end of that year, the San Francisco Mint produced $4,084,207 in gold coins.

Gold fever spread to Colorado in 1858, bringing hundreds of people to settle around the new city of Denver. In 1862, Congress approved a branch Mint in Denver and bought the building of Clark, Gruber and Company, a private mint. The following year, the Denver facility opened as an assay office for miners to bring gold to be melted, assayed, and cast into bars. It didn’t produce any gold coins, as was originally intended. In 1895, Congress converted the Denver facility back to a Mint, and in 1906 it produced its first gold and silver coins.

In 1864, in response to Oregon’s own gold rush, Congress authorized a branch Mint in Dalles City, Oregon and constructed a building. However, no minting or assaying duties were ever performed. Congress gave the building to the state in 1875 to use for educational purposes.

The country’s largest silver strike, referred to as the Comstock Lode, started in Nevada in 1859. Congress authorized a branch Mint in nearby Carson City. The Carson City Mint opened in 1870 to accept deposits from the Comstock Lode and to mint coins. During its operation, it produced eight different coin denominations. Congress withdrew its mint status in 1899 when the Comstock’s ore declined, but it continued as an assay office until 1933. Source

230th Anniversary Flowing Hair High Relief Gold Coin

 

 

The 230th Anniversary Flowing Hair High Relief Gold Coin pays homage to the Flowing Hair dollar coin, issued in 1794 as America’s first dollar coin.

Circulating Coins

 

This episode looks at how the United States Mint makes circulating coins. Circulating coins are the coins that the United States Mint produces for everyday transactions. Circulating coins are also included in the United States Mint’s annual coin sets, which are the staple of coin collecting.

 

Salvation Army Received Two Gold Coins As Donation

The Salvation Army announced they have received two gold coins, worth over $4,000, donated in Waukegan before Red Kettle season has even begun. The Salvation Army North and Central Illinois Division said the two coins were donated on Monday afternoon.

The first gold coin of the season was a one-ounce South African Gold Krugerrand and the second was a half-ounce $25 gold American Eagle coin. The first coin, valued at approximately $2,750, was hand-delivered to the Waukegan Corps Community Center just after 1 p.m. Monday. A person walked into the Waukegan Corps and dropped off the coin on behalf of an anonymous donor who said they love the work of The Salvation Army in Lake County.

The message delivered along with the coin was that the donor wants to continue to help needy families. The second coin, valued at approximately $1,500, was walked into the Waukegan Corps on behalf of another donor at 3:30 p.m. Monday.

Gold coins, like the ones dropped off in Waukegan, help The Salvation Army support families who are struggling to stay in their homes, put a warm meal on the table and provide Christmas gifts for their children.

All Red Kettle donations stay local and the two gold coins will help fund programs and services in the Lake County community.“These gold coins will help us fund the services that help people in Waukegan all year long,” said Major Dan Faundez, Corps Officer at The Salvation Army Waukegan Corps. “We hope the generosity of these donors will be matched many times over this Christmas season,” Faundez said.

Read more about this amazing donation here...

Then & Now: Part III (Die Making)

 

 

Part 3 of the "Then & Now" video series looks at hub and die making, featuring 1940 documentary footage from the U.S. National Archives​.

Then & Now: Part II (Sculpting)

 

 

Part 2 of the "Then & Now" video series looks at sculpting and engraving, featuring 1940 documentary footage from the U.S. National Archives​.