VOCABULARY TERM: PRESSMAN

Pressman. The operator of any press used to strike coins or medals, as a coining press or any type of medal press. A pressman reports to a pressroom foreman, who is responsible for all activity to produce the coins or medals. Operators of presses have always been called a pressman (since 1819), previously the operator of a screw press who fed blanks and ejected struck pieces manually was called a coin setter.

A pressman's greatest responsibilities with automatic presses are: (1) not to break a die, (2) to use the correct blanks for striking the order at hand, (3) to setup the press properly, (4) to insure the feed mechanism is delivering blanks to the press properly and continuously, and (5) to frequently inspect the struck items during a production run.

The pressman must have a feeling for die clearance and die alignment during setup and that the dies are seated and locked in correctly. He must know the correct gauge of blanked stock. While presses are running he must have a "sixth" sense of knowing his press is functioning properly and know just about when a die is going to break and retire it before it can jam the press. (While obtaining the maximum use from a die is an admirable goal, it is less important than that of preventing a die from breaking on the press). Also he must maintain the press or presses under his command in working order.

During inspection, a pressman must know what to look for. He must know the concept of highpoints (that the metal flow is filling every cavity in the dies by surface deformation). He must be conscious of all the points of stress in a die (he must carefully examine the areas between lettering and the rim where stress is the greatest). He must also examine the rim/edge juncture in trying to meet (but not exceed!) this point with the most metal mass of the blanks. He should check the axis on both sides of the piece that they are properly aligned. His goal is to produce perfect struck pieces at all times.

To read the complete entry on the Newman Numismatic Portal, see:
Pressman (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/dictionarydetail/516540)

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