I am a dealer and author of a number of articles on the 'Sovereign' here in the UK, I am currently researching for a new set of articles which begin next month in the coin news magazine (no idea if that reaches the US?). I am always happy to answer questions on the sovereign, and even happier to pickup information along the way. I am currently looking at the minting process at the Royal Mint in the early Victorian period, I came across this thread from 2017 which relates to the US Mint, but is exactly the sort of thing I am looking at for the Royal Mint. Unlocking the Die Manufacturing Process Unlocking the Die Manufacturing Process In 1836 the Mint acquired the French Portrait Lathe. Prior to this time the die manufacturing process did not or... Records are far and few between which leads to a lot of guess work, and much of what has been written is clearly wrong. However discovering actual processes used is not so easy. I welcome hearing from anyone with any knowledge or interest in the subject.
Welcome to cointalk! I look forward to reading your articles. I’ve subscribed to Coin News for years. Anyone with any interest in British coins should subscribe. A digital subscription is only about $16 per year. If you’re interested in the mechanics of British coining during the reign of Victoria, you should learn all you can about Matthew Boulton. He was the industrial genius who helped Watt perfect and market his steam engine. But he also introduced the steam engine to manufacturing … changing it forever. And one of the applications of the steam engine was to coining presses. You can read a lot about Boulton online. I also recommend “The Soho Mint & the Industrialization of Money” by Richard Doty. Cal
I love folks who research and teach us by sharing! Likely not helpful directly to you, but a cool article about how the minting process has evolved: https://britanniacoincompany.com/blog/minting-technology-through-the-ages/ Sorry I couldn’t be more help. I’m trying to learn about how Germany mints their €2 myself. All the best!
Thank you for your comments, the articles will follow the sovereign from 1817 to date, but with a little bit of a twist as I will be looking at what was happening at the Royal Mint at the time these coins were struck. There are many stories along the way, such as William Wyon forced to work from his house because Pistrucci boarded up the passage way and stole his office. Primarily the articles look at the processes employed at the Mint at the time a sovereign was struck. What this has actually achieved is to answer some questions, raise yet more questions, and show some current thinking to be wrong which I am sure will cause some controversy. Currently I am researching how dies were manufactured in the early Victorian era, they contain a lot of errors and the question is how did they get on to the coins. On the face of it, the engraver just picks up the wrong letter punch or punches one in the wrong place so re-punches over the top of it. Doubling is simply put down to dual hubbing in most publications today. These things raise questions if you put them under scrutiny, and that is what I am currently doing. I was hoping by looking at the US Mint for the same period it would give clues into the processes used at the time. One big question is when did all elements of the design including the legends first appear on the master die (matrix) and not solely on the working die?
At least the British kept their classical style for Sovereigns/ the Pistrucci design is still used today/ thank God for common sense. My Country Germany once struck the worlds most beautifull coinage/ now they produce garbage. Last nice German coin was struck under Kaiser. Britain has not altered sovereign since George IV!
Very cool. I hope you will touch on the Branch Mints as well. It's a really interesting aspect of the delvelupment of not only the Royal Mint but the other mints including some of the Royal Mint's competitors in the bullion space. My current main collection is Ottawa Sovereign (Sovereigns as a whole but my main core is Ottawa) Records are indeed quite limited in nature such as the source of the gold for all 636 1908 Ottawa sovereign is only know because of a Newspaper article of the time rather than official mint records
According to Wexler https://doubleddie.com/58201.html in the US "With the introduction of the Flying Eagle and Indian Head cents the Mint began placing the letters around the rim of the obverse onto the master die. To avoid the mistakes and inconsistencies that could occur if those letters were punched individually, a single circular punch contained the entire arrangement of letters so that they could all be impressed into the master die at one time." That would put it 1856 or so. I have observed repunching of some the legend on Barber dimes that spans many years, so if they messed up with the single circular punch method, it stayed for a long time. Coincidentally, the thread title was the answer to the Final Jeopardy question tonight (A US TV show) - "Henry VII minted the first pound coin in 1489, which was called this, also a term for what Henry was."
Yes the articles will cover all branch mints, Sydney / Melbourne / Perth / Ottawa / Bombay / Pretoria. I too have read this, and it does put the timing somewhere after 1851 for the Royal Mint, but it has been almost impossible to fix a precise year. Clues found suggest it wasn't possible to use a screw type press to get enough pressure for the legend to be struck on the master die, so these needed to be punched on to the working dies. In 1851 the Royal Mint purchased a steam hammer which could in theory allow for all elements (excluding date) to be punched into the master die. Looking at many sovereigns its difficult to nail down a specific change in the process until 1864. The only photo of a Victorian matrix / working die is a Young Head St George Dragon reverse proof, supplied to me by the Mint Museum, and that has the legend on the master. Mint records do say that the resident engraver was no longer needed in 1879 as all legends were now done on the matrix.
Not sure how relevant this is, but I would get in touch with Glen Murray, a US citizen (born in LA in 1952) who has taken Spanish nationality. Not only is he a briliant numismatist, he is also an expert on production techniques throughout the centuries. He was the instigator and leading light on the restoration of the old, ruined, mint in Segovia, and he has written what I regard as the three bibles on (1) the Segovia mint (2) the Madrid mint and (2) the mints of Potosi and Lima - fantastically detailed works with all you need to know, and more! Anybody interested in Spanish coins should have these three major works, not only for the coins themselves but also for technical and historical information on all aspects of metal working and coin production. He has been awarded various distinctions, and I believe he has a doctorate in history. I do not have his address or email, but you can probably contact him via info@segoviamint.org
The Royal Mint has annual reports from 1870 to 1975 (I think) available online now - there might some information in there.
