The E-Sylum:  Volume 7, Number 44, October 31, 2004, Article 21

DENVER MINT ARTICLE PUBLISHED

  The Denver Journal-Sentinel published an article October
  24 about the workings of the Denver Mint.  Here are some
  excerpts:

  "The Mint contracts with companies that supply 13-inch-wide
  flat metal coils - from which nickels, dimes, quarters and half
  dollars are stamped - or penny planchets, which are purchased
  preformed.

  The planchets are fed into stamping machines, where they
  inch their way down tiny chutes and are imprinted with
  Lincoln's head and his monument."

  "The 4-ton metal coils are about 41/2 feet high. They are put
  on rollers and fed into a blanking machine, where they're
  stamped up to 700 times, creating the blanks that will
  eventually become a quarter or nickel.

  On a recent tour of the Denver Mint, plant manager Tim Riley
  plunged his hands into a tub and scooped up what looked like
  little metal bow ties - what's left over from the stamped metal
  - which is sent back to the coil manufacturer to be melted
  down and recycled."

  "Planchets are washed in a mixture of soap, cream of tartar
  and water and then dried. They're checked for imperfections
  - wrong size or shape - and the good ones go through an
  upsetting mill, which raises a rim around their edges. Riley
  said this makes it easier to center the blanks when they're
  struck by dies."

  "Above each striking machine is a large photo of the coin,
  which shows spots where cracks or chips are most often
  found. On the nickels, Thomas Jefferson's eyebrow, mouth
  and chin are marked as trouble spots.

  "There's different places where they'll start to chip out,
  depending on the coin," Riley said. "That's what makes it
  difficult for the quarter, because we have a different design
  every 10 weeks."

  "On this day, the first day the Wisconsin quarter is being
  struck, inspectors peering through magnifying loupes have
  already discovered that a spot below the cow's neck chips
  easily."

  "A mint worker showed visitors two dies used to stamp
  the Wisconsin quarter.

  They looked fine, but under a magnifying glass, part of
  Washington's head can be seen among the cow, cheese
  and corn - the result of the dies striking each other without
  a blank coin between them. The bad dies will be defaced
  further so they can't be used again. The Mint sells used
  dies to collectors."

  "Riley, who collects each year's proof sets, knows the plant
  he oversees isn't just another factory turning out widgets.

  "When you're around it day in, day out, you're aware it's
  not just a product. It's part of our nation's history and our
  nation's commerce," Riley said in an interview inside his
  Denver office, the same office used by mint managers since
  the building opened a century ago when double eagles and
  half eagles - $20 and $5 gold pieces - were rolling off the
  assembly line.

  "They're not just stamping out little discs. They're stamping
  out coins that will be held by millions of people."

  More Info

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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