Question

Imagine you are opening a Mint, a manufacturing company that produces coins and medals. You have been commissioned to make, from start to finish, a new copper/nickel coin (you can use the UK 50p as an example). Explain the process of producing the coin. Your answer should include:

The initial sheet metal working and what temperature it will be performed at. (Including the pros and cons of working at that temperature as it relates to the overall coin making process and the economy of the factory).
The process of producing the initial blanks for the coin.
The creation of the coin dies (stamps), including what methods would be used to prolong the life of the die.
The stamping and finishing of the coins.
How you would improve the economy of the Mint to minimise waste and maximise production.

Word count: 1000 words (+/-10%)

Answer 1

Production Process

1: Melting

Coinage materials are melted in an electric furnace, and ingots are produced by a continuous casting machine.

2: Hot Rolling & Cold Rolling

Ingots are heated in a soaking pit. While hot they are rolled out and made into coil shape.
This is followed by rough and finish rolling to complete the rolled plates having the thickness of the coins to be produced.

3: Blanking

Blank discs are punched from the finished plates. These are what we call "Engyo" (blanks).

4: Edging

To sharpen the images of coins, the peripheries of the blanks are edged. This is followed by annealing to soften the blanks.

5: Coining & Inspection

The obverse and reverse sides of the finished blanks are stamped with patterns, and edges are concurrently milled. Subsequently the pattern of each stamped coin is inspected, and imperfect products are taken out.

6: Counting & Bagging

Accepted coins are strictly counted, then bagged.