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»em, am! bring them to the juft thicknefs of the Species to- be coin'd 5 with this difference, however, that the Plates of Gold are heated again in a Furnace, and quench'd in Water, before they undergo the Mill; which foftens, and renders em the more duaile : whereas thofe of Silver .pafs the Mill juft as they are, without any heating ; and when afterwards they are heated, they are left to cool again of themfelves, with- out Water. See Mitt. ,
The Plates, whether Gold, Silver, or Copper, thus re- due'd as near as poffible to their thicknefs, are cut into round Pieces, or Planchets, near the Size of the intended Species with a cutting Inftrument faften'd to the lower Extremity ot an Arbor, whofe upper end is form'd into a Sctew ; which being turn'd by an iron Handle, turns the Arbor, and lets the Steel, well (harpen'd, in form of a Punch-cutter, fall on the Plates ; and thus is a piece punch'd out. See this Inftru- ment reprcfented in Tab. Mifcellany, Fig. 3.
Thefe Pieces are now given to be adjufted, and brought by filing, or wiping, to the Weight of the Standard whereby they are to be regulated ; and what remains of the Plate be- tween the Circles is melted again.
The Pieces are adjufted in a fine Balance ; and thole which prove too light are feparated from thofe too heavy ; the firft to be melted again, and the fecond to be filed down. For it may be obferv'd, that the Mill thro' which the Plates are pafs'd can never be fo juft, but there will be fome inequality, whence will arife a difference in the Planchcts._ This ine- quality, indeed, may be owing to the Quality of the Matter, as well as of the Machine ; fome Parts being more porous than others.
When the Planchets are adjufted, they are carried to the blanching, or whitening Houfc, i. e. the Place where the Gold Planchets have their Colour given them, and the Sil- ver ones are whiten'd ; which is dene by heating 'em in the Furnace, and when taken out and cool'd, boiling 'em fuccef- iivcly in two Copper Vefiels, with Water, common Salt, and Tartar ; and after fcowring 'em well with Sand, and waffling 'em with common Water, drying 'em over a Wood Fire, in a Copper Sieve ; wherein they are put when taken out of the Boilers.
The whitening, or blanching was formerly perform 'd very differently from what it now is : And as the antient Method is ftill in ufe among Goldfmiths, and other Workmen who ufe Gold and Silver, we have made a diftinct Article of it. See Blanching.
Formerly, the Planchets, as foon as blanch'd, were carry'd to the Prefs, to be {truck and receive their Imprcffions ; but now they are firft mark'd with a Legend, or Engine, on the Edges, to prevent the clipping and paring of the Species ; which is one of the ways wherein the antient Money us'd to be damag'd.
The Machine ufed to mark the Edges is very fimple, yet ingenious ; it confifts of two Plates of Steel, in form of Rulers, about the thicknefs of a Line, on which the Legend or Edging are engraven, half on the one, and half on the other. One of thefe Plates is immoveable, and ftrongly bound with Screws to a Copper Plate ; and that again to a flrong Board, or Table : The other is movable, and Hides on the Copper Plate, by means of a Handle, and a Wheel, or Pinion of Iron ; the Teeth whereof catch in a kind of other Teeth, on the Surface of the Hiding Plate. Now, the Planchet being plac'd horizontally between thefe two Plates, is carried along by the Motion of the movable one ; fo, as by that time it has made half a turn, it is found mark'd all round.
This Machine is fo eafy, that a Angle Man is able to mark twenty thoufand Planchets in a Day : It was invented by the Sieur Cajiaing, Engineer to the French King, and firft us'd in 1685.
Laftly, the Planchets being thus edg'd, are ftamp'd, i. e. their Impreflion given them in a Balancier, or Prefs; which is a Machine invented at the latter end of the XVIth Cen- tury : See its Figure in Tab. Mifcellany, Fig. 4.
Its chief Parts are a Beam, Screw, Arbor, SSc all con- tain'd in the Body of the Machine, except the firft, which is a long Iron Bar, with a heavy Ball of Lead at each end, and Kings, to which are faften'd Cords which give it Motion : it is placed horizontally over the Body of the Machine. In the middle of the Beam is faften'd a Screw, which by turn- ing the Beam, ferves to prefs the Arbor underneath it; to the lower Extremity of which Arbor, placed perpendicular- ly, is faften'd the Matrice, or Coin of the Reverie, or Arms fide, in a kind of Box, or Cafe, wherein it is retain'd by Screws : and under this is a Box, or Cafe containing the Matrice of the Image fide, firmly faften'd to the lower Part of the Balancier. See Matrice, &c.
Now when a Planchet is to be ftamp'd, 'tis laid on the Image Mattice, upon which two Men draw, each on his fide, one of the Ropes of the Beam, and turn the Screw faften'd in it ; which by this Motion lowers the Arbor, to which the Matrice of the Arms is faften'd : by which means, the Metal being in the middle, at once receives an Impref.
fion on each fide, from either Matrice. As to the Prefs f merly us'd, it has all the effential Parts of a "Balancier °' cept the Beam ; which is here, as ir were, divided an! ^*~ ly drawn one way. See Engraving.
The Planchets having now all their Marks and Imnref lions, both on the Edges and Faces, become" Money • k " have not currency till they have been weigh 'd and examin'd'
For the Coining of Medals, the Procefs is the fame ' ' effect, with that of Money : The principal difference corutfi! in this, that Money having but a fmall Relievo, receiv^ its Impreflion at a fingle Stroke ; whereas, for Medals the height of their Relievo makes it neceffary that the Strok be repeated feveral times : To this End, the Piece rs take out from between the Coins, heated, and return'd again . which procefs, in Medallions, and large Medals, is ibme' times repeated 15 or *o times, ere the full Impreflion be given; care being taken every time the Planchet isremov'J to take off the fuperfluous Metal flretch'd beyond the Cir* cumference, with a File. See Medal.
Add to this, that Medallions, and Medals of high Relic vo, by reafon of the Difficulty of damping 'em in the Balan- cier, or Prefs, are ufually firft caft or molded in Sand, HJ; e other works of that kind, and are only put in the Balancier to perfect them ; by reafon the Sand does not leave 'em clean Imooth, and accurate enough. Medals, therefore, receive their Form and Impreflion by degrees ; Money all at once.
The Rule whereby they judge the Medal to be fufficiently ftamp'd ; is, when feeling it with the Hand, 'tis found firm and not to be fhaken, as rilling the Coin equally every where. See Medallion, l£c.
Coining with the Hammer, or hammer 'd Money.
In this Method of making Money, the Plates of Gold Silver, or Copper being taken out of the Molds, or Frames' as above, are heated and flretch'd by beating 'em on the Anvil : when fufficiently beaten, they are cur into Pieces ■ which being again heated, flatted, and futther ftretch'd with' the Hammer, are adjufted by cutting off the Angles with Sheers : thus by cutting and rounding them, they are te- due'd to the Weight of the Standard ; and theii; roundnefs finiifi'd with another Hammer, which beats down all the Points and Angles Hill remaining on the Edges. In this man. ner they are brought to the Size of the Species to be coin'd:
In this ftate the Pieces become Planchets, and are carried to the Blanching-Houfe; where they undergo the fame Pre- paration as thcmill'd Money already defcrib'd, and are given to the Minter to beat 'cm with the Hammer.
For this laft Operation, which finiihes the Money, they ufe two Puncheons, or Matrices ; the one called the 'Pile, and the other the Trufs, ot Quiver ; each engraven dent-wife. The Pile bearing the Arms, and the Trufs the Image, ot Crofs ; both their Legend, Date, &c.
The Pile, which is about eight Inches high, has a kind of Talon, or Heel in the middle, and ends in a Point : Which Figure it had, for the fake of being more eafily funk, and more firmly faften'd to the Block whereon the Money is flruck. See Pile, i$c.
The Minter, then, laying the Planchet horizontally on the Pile, and covering it with the Trufs, which he holds fteadi- ly in his left Hand, gives feveral fmart Blows on the Trufs with an Iron Mallet held in the right ; more or lefs, as the Graving of the Coins is more or lefs deep. If after thefe firft Strokes, the Planchet ben't fufficiently ftamp'd, 'tis re- turn'd again between the Matrices, exactly in its former Po- fition, and the Strokes repeated till the Impreflion be perfect.
Thus is the Coinage finifh'd, and the Planchets converted into Money ; which, after they have been examin'd as to their weight, become current.
Englijh Coinage.
Since the Invention of milling Money in France, it has been imitated by feveral other Nations ; but by none with Succefs equal to that of the Englijh, who have carried it to the utmoft Perfection ; both by the Beauty of their Gra- ving, and by their inventing the Impreflions on the Edges, that admirable Expedient for preventing the Alteration of the Species, abovemention'd.
Till that time the Englijh Money was ftruck with the Hammer, as that of other Nations ; and, in effect, 'tis but very late, vis. in the Reign of K. William III. that the hammcr'd Species ceas'd to be current. Ere they were put down, the Englijh Money was in a woful Condition ; having been filed and clipp'd by Foreigners, efpecially the ZDutch, fo as to be fcarce left of half its Value : The retrieving of this diftrefs'd State of the Engtijh Money, is look'd on as one of the Glories of King William's Reign ; for which we are owing, in good! meafure, to the happy Conduct of the late Earl of Hallifax.
The Coinage of England is now perform 'd wholly in the Toiaer of London ; where there is a Corporation under the Title of the Mint. See Mint.
Formerly there were here, as there are ftill in other Countries, what we call the Rights of Seignorage and Braf- fage ; but fince the XVIUth lear of K. Charles II. there
