Minting Equipment
Few substantial items of obsolete minting equipment have survived, though the Royal Mint Museum is fortunate to possess about half-a-dozen coining and blanking presses from 100 or so years ago. Three old reducing machines also survive, one of them being of particular interest in that it was purchased in the 1820s for use by the engraver William Wyon and is currently on display at the British Museum. Other large items include trolleys, balances and scales, while among the smaller items are hand-held gauges for measuring the thickness of metal strip.
Browse highlights of the minting equipment collection below.
Nineteenth-century strip gauge
This gauge is one of the oldest surviving pieces of equipment connected with the production of coins at the Royal Mint.
Coin counting machine
Automatic coin counting machines were introduced into the Royal Mint during the 1890s.
Reducing machine
For 100 years from the end of the 19th century reducing machines of the type exhibited in the Royal Mint Museum were a key element in the process of making dies.
You might also like
Automatic Balance
The automatic balance clearly highlights and represents The Royal Mint’s concern for accuracy and precision.
Collection in Context
The objects in the Museum each represent a stage in the process of transforming a concept into a coin.
Janvier Reducing Machine
In the Museum we have several reducing machines which were once integral to the process of minting.
The Mint and the First World War
The Royal Mint could not - and did not - escape the massive impact of the First World War.