Production of coins: from antiquity to the present day

The first coins were created at the end of the 7th century BC. In appearance, they differed significantly from modern coins. Over time, the quality of the final products improved, new methods for the production of coins appeared. Scientific and technological progress played an important role in this process. New inventions made it possible to carry out more accurate, efficient and high-quality coin production.

Casting is one of the earliest technologies for the production of coins. Such coins were in the form of everyday household items, for example, shovels or knives. For the first time, casting technology was applied in China. These also include 3rd century BC Roman bronze coins and potin Celtic coins (alloy of copper, tin, lead) - 1st century BC

Casting is the easiest process for producing coins. The technology for creating coins consisted of pouring an alloy into a mold of clay, molding sand, stone or gypsum. The finished coin arose after the alloy cooled. It had soft and smooth edges. This method of production was widely used by counterfeiters. They took the finished coin and pressed it into the clay, thereby obtaining a shape for the low tide of such products. Therefore, subsequently the casting of coins gave way to minting with a hammer.

From the 7th century BC until the Renaissance (approximately XV-XVI centuries), hammer minting was the predominant technique for the production of coins. However, this production method also had drawbacks. Often the image of the coin was obtained with a shifted center.

At the end of the 15th century, the technology of the percussion mechanism was developed. The corresponding device was first used around 1484 at the mint in the city of Halle (county of Tyrol in Austria). With this method of minting, mint masters could produce coins with less effort. The products had clean edges and correctly centered images.

In the 16th century, the need for money began to grow. Mechanic Hans Vogel from Zurich developed a mechanism for roller minting of coins. In 1566, Archduke Ferdinand II initiated the construction of a roller stamping plant. In 1571, the mint was moved to Hasegg Castle in Hull, and a year later roller minting became the main method of producing large coins. The roller minting technology was very simple and effective. Then the roller minting process was improved. This method was used until the 18th century.

The new chapter in the production of coins is spindle minting. In this case, the coins were cut from the plates, which made it possible to make them round and apply a pattern on the edge. Workpieces were still loaded and minted parts were removed manually. The spindle minting mechanism was used until the 19th century.

In 1817, Diederich Ulhorn of Grevenbroch invented a lever stamping mechanism. Through this method, 40-75 coins per minute could be minted, which helped meet the demand for coins at the beginning of the 19th century. The Frenchman Tunnelier first used a steam drive to control this machine.

In the modern world, the steam drive has long been replaced by an electric motor that provides the operation of coinage machines. Such machines allow you to mint more than a hundred coins per second. Before minting coins, their design is developed on a computer. After that, the machine reads the artwork, converting it into a steel stamp with a negative image of the surface of the coin. Today, a fairly large number of innovative technologies are used for minting collectible coins. Using handmade increases the cost of the final product.