| Description | (6 pcs.) (Transcript in an unidentified hand.)
To the Right Honourable the Lords of the Committee of Council appointed to take into Consideration the State of the Coins of the Realm.
In consequence of Your Lordships directions communicated to me by Sir Stephen Cotterell in his Letter of the 9th of August last, I have diligently & and carefully examined the various Machinery & Implements used at the Mint for the Coinage of Gold & Silver, and have received the Information I required in the most obliging manner from the Officers of the various Departments, on every Point which seemed to me requisite to comply with Your Lordships directions.
Viewing the whole generally, I have very little to say, in addition to my Report of the 10th July 1798, respecting the Imperfection of the Machinery and Implements used in the Mint, except that the Lathes & other Machinery used in the Workshops for the purposes of turning the Rolls, repairing the Presses &c. &c. are much more imperfect than any other part.
It is impossible therefore, let the Workmen be ever so expert, that the Rolling and Cutting out Machines, or the Presses, can be kept in that perfect Order which seems to me so necessary to enable the Moneyers to manufacture the Metal in that accurate manner they would otherwise do, and it evinces no small degree of Attention and Skill to have manufactured the Coin of the Realm as well as they are with Machinery so imperfect as that used at the Mint now appears to be, considering the great Improvements which have taken place in Machines of late years. The Machinery at present in use at the Mint was introduced by Royal Warrant in the Reign of King Charles the Second in the Year 1662 as the most perfect improvement upon the Ancient mode of Coining by the Hammer, at which time their new Machines and no others were ordered to be used for the purpose of coining alone, and conformably with that Order, the same Machinery has continued in use at His Majesty's Mint ever since.
Improvements may no doubt be made in all the different Operations of the Mint, the Assaying excepted; But any Improvements which could be made in the present Machinery and Tools, would I apprehend, be far short of that perfection which has been attained at Soho, and as I doubt not Your Lordships desire that every thing should be done in the most perfect Manner, I shall proceed on that supposition.
First, As it has been stated in my former Report that it would be better to cast the Metal in large Ingots & in Iron Moulds than in filletts and in Sand, in which I find the Officers of the Mint agree; It will be necessary to have a powerfull Rolling Mill, sufficient to break down the Metal, with proper Annealing Furnaces adjoining. This Mill will require to be of the power of thirty Horses or thereabouts.
Second, Adjoining this Mill, there should be another Mill with small Rolls for adjusting the Metal to as nice a degree of thickness as possible, and this I flatter myself can be done to a much greater Degree of Perfection than any thing which can be done by the Machinery in the Mint-or indeed, elsewhere by such means. The Blanks will be so near in point of thickness as to require very little adjustment before they are coined.
In the same Room with these Rolls, there should be twelve Cutting out Presses, worked by the same Machine, and several small Hand Presses, so that as the Metal is rolled, the Hand Presses may adjust and ascertain the perfection in point of thickness-from thence it may go to the Cutting out Machines when it will be formed into Blanks.
Third, Adjoining the small Rolling & Cutting out Room, there should be a room for Annealing & Pickling Operations which succeed the Cutting out, & near this another Room for picking out imperfect Blanks with an adjusting & weighing Room adjoining thereto. These Operations prepare the Blanks for Blanching and Shaking previous to their being Milled, or if not to be milled, previous to their being Coined.
The Room for sizeing and adjusting the weight of the Pieces, must be of large dimensions, that a sufficient number of Persons may be employed for that purpose. Although I have little doubt that by means of the Machinery I have mentioned, the Filing requisite to bring the Blanks to their proper weight, will be greatly diminished, yet I cannot flatter Your Lordships that this Operation will be entirely done away.
Fourth, There must be close to the Picking & Weighing Rooms, another for Milling, which is the last Operation the Blanks pass through previous to the Coining. These Milling Machines should be worked by the same power as that which gives motion to the Presses, and after the Blanks have been milled, if milling is to be given them, they are then in a state to pass from thence into the Press Room, where they receive their finish, previous to their being weighed in proper Quantities to be delivered to the Importer for Circulation. It will of course be necessary to have a small Office adjoining the Press Room, for this Purpose.
[Edited transcript.] |