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Mint (coin)

 
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Mint (coin)
 
 
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A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures
Manufacturing

Manufacturing is the use of machine, tool and labor to make things for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to Industry production, in which raw material are transformed into finished good on a large scale....
 coin
Coin

A coin is a piece of hard material, usually metal or a metallic material, usually in the shape of a Disk , and most often issued by a government....
s for currency
Currency

A currency is a Medium of exchange, facilitating the trade of goods and/or Service s. It is coins and paper bills used as money. It is one form of money, where money is anything that serves as a medium of exchange, a store of value, and a standard of value....
.

The history of mints
History of mints

The history of mints begins in the 7th century BC, when the first mint was likely established in Lydia for coining gold, silver and electrum. The Lydian innovation of manufacturing coins under the authority of the state spread to neighboring Greece, and from there spread to other areas of the Mediterranean....
 correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is normally related in a fashion that more closely ties to the political situation of an era. For example, when discussing the history of the New Orleans Mint
New Orleans Mint

The New Orleans Mint operated in New Orleans, Louisiana, Louisiana, as a branch Mint of the United States Mint from 1838 to 1861 and from 1879 to 1909....
, the usage of that mint by the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America formed as the government set up from 1861 to 1865 by eleven Southern United States U.S. state of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S....
 beginning in 1861 is a notable occurrence. The origins of the Philadelphia Mint
Philadelphia Mint

The Philadelphia Mint was created from the need to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States. This led the Founding Fathers of the United States to make an establishment of a continental national mint a main priority after the ratification of the Constitution of the United States....
, which began operations in 1792 and first produced circulating coinage in 1793, are often related within the political context of the time.

In the beginning, hammered coinage
Hammered coinage

Hammered coinage describes the most common form of coins produced since the invention of coins in the first millennium BC until the early modern period of ca....
 or cast coinage
Cast coinage

Cast coinage refers to coins made by pouring melted metal into a mold, i.e. casting. It has been used for regular coins, particularly in the Far East, but also on a smaller scale e.g....
 were the chief means of coin minting, with resulting production runs numbering as little as the hundreds or thousands.






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A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures
Manufacturing

Manufacturing is the use of machine, tool and labor to make things for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to Industry production, in which raw material are transformed into finished good on a large scale....
 coin
Coin

A coin is a piece of hard material, usually metal or a metallic material, usually in the shape of a Disk , and most often issued by a government....
s for currency
Currency

A currency is a Medium of exchange, facilitating the trade of goods and/or Service s. It is coins and paper bills used as money. It is one form of money, where money is anything that serves as a medium of exchange, a store of value, and a standard of value....
.

The history of mints
History of mints

The history of mints begins in the 7th century BC, when the first mint was likely established in Lydia for coining gold, silver and electrum. The Lydian innovation of manufacturing coins under the authority of the state spread to neighboring Greece, and from there spread to other areas of the Mediterranean....
 correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is normally related in a fashion that more closely ties to the political situation of an era. For example, when discussing the history of the New Orleans Mint
New Orleans Mint

The New Orleans Mint operated in New Orleans, Louisiana, Louisiana, as a branch Mint of the United States Mint from 1838 to 1861 and from 1879 to 1909....
, the usage of that mint by the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America formed as the government set up from 1861 to 1865 by eleven Southern United States U.S. state of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S....
 beginning in 1861 is a notable occurrence. The origins of the Philadelphia Mint
Philadelphia Mint

The Philadelphia Mint was created from the need to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States. This led the Founding Fathers of the United States to make an establishment of a continental national mint a main priority after the ratification of the Constitution of the United States....
, which began operations in 1792 and first produced circulating coinage in 1793, are often related within the political context of the time.

In the beginning, hammered coinage
Hammered coinage

Hammered coinage describes the most common form of coins produced since the invention of coins in the first millennium BC until the early modern period of ca....
 or cast coinage
Cast coinage

Cast coinage refers to coins made by pouring melted metal into a mold, i.e. casting. It has been used for regular coins, particularly in the Far East, but also on a smaller scale e.g....
 were the chief means of coin minting, with resulting production runs numbering as little as the hundreds or thousands. In modern mints, coin dies are manufactured in large numbers and planchet
Planchet

File:Flans.jpgA planchet is a round metal disk that is ready to be struck as a coin. An older word for planchet is flan. They are also referred to as blanks....
s are made into milled coins by the billions.

With the mass production of currency the production cost is weighed when minting coins. For example, it costs the US Mint much less than 25 cents to make a quarter, and the difference in production cost and face value (called seigniorage
Seigniorage

Seigniorage , also spelled seignorage or seigneurage, is the net revenue derived from the issuing of currency....
) helps fund the minting body.

Ancient mints

A number of city-state
City-state

A city-state is an independent country whose territory consists solely of a single major city and the area immediately surrounding it. Examples include the city-states of ancient Greece , the Phoenician cities of Canaan , the Sumerian cities of Mesopotamia , the Mayans of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica , the central Asian cities along the Silk Roa...
s in ancient Greece
Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
 operated their own mints. Some of the earliest Greek mints were within city states on Greek islands such as Crete
Crete

Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and the List of islands in the Mediterranean largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km? ....
; for example an early mint existed at the ancient city of Cydonia on Crete at least as early as the fifth century BC. Roman mints were spread widely across the Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, and sometimes used for propaganda
Propaganda

Propaganda is the dissemination of information aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people. As opposed to Objectivity providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience....
 purposes. The populace often learned of a new Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 when coins appeared with the new Emperor's portrait
Portrait

A portrait is a portrait painting, portrait photography, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant....
. Some of the emperors who ruled only for a short time made sure that a coin bore their image; Quietus
Quietus

Titus Fulvius Iunius Quietus was a Roman usurper against Roman Emperor Gallienus.Quietus was the son of Macrianus Major and a noblewoman, possibly named Iunia....
, for example, ruled only part of the Roman Empire from 260 to 261 AD, and yet he issued several coins bearing his image.

Notable mints

  • Austrian Mint
    Austrian Mint

    The Austrian Mint , is located in Vienna. It issues every year the Euro gold and silver commemorative coins #Vienna Philharmonic Coin, one of the most popular bullion coin in the world....
     - exists since 1397 and produces the Vienna Philharmonic gold bullion
  • Perth Mint
    Perth Mint

    The Perth Mint is Australia's oldest operating Mint . After the foundation stone was laid in 1896 by Sir John Forrest, the Mint opened on June 20 1899 as a branch of the Royal Mint in London to refine gold and manufacture gold sovereigns and half sovereigns to be used as currency in the colony....
     (Australia
    Australia

    Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
    )
  • Royal Mint
    Royal Mint

    The Royal Mint of the United Kingdom is the body permitted to manufacture, or mint , Coins of the pound sterling in the United Kingdom. The Mint originated over 1,100 years ago, but has functioned since 1975 as a Trading Fund, operating in much the same way as a government-owned company....
     of the United Kingdom
  • Royal Australian Mint
    Royal Australian Mint

    The Royal Australian Mint is situated in the Australian federal capital city of Canberra, in the suburb of Deakin, Australian Capital Territory....
  • Casa da Moeda de Portugal
    Casa da Moeda de Portugal

    The Casa da Moeda de Portugal was the Portugal mint , owned by the Portuguese government and administratively subordinated to the Ministry of Finances....
  • Casa da Moeda do Brasil
    Casa da Moeda do Brasil

    The Casa da Moeda do Brasil is the Brazil mint , owned by the Brazilian government and administratively subordinated to the Ministry of Finances....
  • Royal Canadian Mint
    Royal Canadian Mint

    The Royal Canadian Mint produces all of Canada's circulation coins, and manufactures circulation coins on behalf of other nations. The mint also designs and manufactures: collector coins; gold, silver, palladium, and platinum bullion coins; customized medals, token s, trade dollar watches, and, for a brief time, high end jewellery featurin...
  • Joachimsthal Royal Mint, Czech Republic
    Czech Republic

    The Czech Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east....
    , (Jáchymovská královská mincovna in Czech
    Czech language

    Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czech people worldwide....
    )—historical, established in 1516 and thaler
    Thaler

    The Thaler was a silver coin used throughout Europe for almost four hundred years. Its name lives on in various currencies as the dollar or Slovenian tolar....
    s (tolars in Czech, Slovak
    Slovak language

    The Slovak language , sometimes incorrectly called ?Slovakian?, is an Indo-European languages that belongs to the West Slavic languages .The Czech and Slovak languages are Mutual intelligibility which means that even after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia Czech may be used in all official proceedings and documents in Slovakia, and vice ver...
     and Slovene) were minted there. The dollar
    Dollar

    The dollar is the name of the official currency in several countries, including the US, Australia, and Canada, dependencies and other world regions....
     received its name after them (Joachimsthal
    Jáchymov

    For other places called Joachimsthal, see Joachimsthal J?chymov is a spa town in north-west Bohemia in the Czech Republic belonging to the Karlovy Vary Region....
     Groschen     led to Joachimsthal, which was further shortened to "thaler" (German
    German language

    German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
    ), which was transliterated to "daler" (Dutch
    Dutch language

    Dutch is a West Germanic languages spoken by over 22 million people as a first language, and about 5 million people as a second language."1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language speakers of Dutch is very small. Most native...
    ), which was rendered in English as "dollar").
  • Monnaie de Paris
    Monnaie de Paris

    File:Monnaie_de_Paris.jpgFile:Monnaie_de_Paris_facade.jpgThe Monnaie de Paris or, more administratively speaking, the "Direction of Coins and Medals", is an administration of the French government charged with issuing coins as well as producing medals and other similar items....
     (France)
  • India Government Mint
    India Government Mint

    The India Government Mint operates four Mint s in the country for the production of coins. They are located at:* Mumbai, Maharashtra* Kolkata, West Bengal...
  • Currency Centre
    Currency Centre

    The Currency Centre is the mint of coins and Printer of banknotes for the Central Bank of Ireland, including the euro currency. The centre is located at Sandyford, Dublin, Ireland....
    , Ireland
    Ireland

    Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
  • Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
    Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato

    The Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato is the mint of the Italian Republic. It is situated in Rome and as well as producing coins, notes and stamps for Italy it serves the micro-states of the Vatican City and San Marino....
    , "Printer Institute and State Mint", Italy
    Italy

    Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
    , the first mint to produce bi-metallic coins
    Bi-metallic coins

    Bi-metallic coins are coins consisting of more than one metal or alloy, generally arranged with an outer ring around a contrasting center. Common circulating examples include the 1 euro coins, 2 euro coins, British coin Two Pound, Two Dollar Coin and South African rand....
     in recent times
  • Casa de Moneda de México
    Mexican Mint

    La Casa de Moneda de M?xico is the national mint of Economy of Mexico and the oldest mint in the Americas, established in 1535.Since 1983, coins are only produced in San Luis Potos? in Mexico and the main client is the Banco de M?xico....
  • Saint Petersburg Mint
    Saint Petersburg Mint

    Saint Petersburg Mint is one of the world's largest Mint . It was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1724 on the territory of Peter and Paul Fortress, so it is one of the oldest Industry enterprises in Saint Petersburg....
     (Russia)
  • Royal Dutch Mint
    Royal Dutch Mint

    The Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt , seated in Utrecht , the Netherlands, is a company owned entirely by the Dutch State, and since 1807 the only Dutch entity allowed to strike and give out coins....
  • Singapore Mint
  • Kremnica mint
    Kremnica mint

    The Kremnica mint , situated in Kremnica, Slovakia, is one of the oldest continuously manufacturing manufacture worldwide....
    , Slovak Republic, (Mincovna Kremnica in Slovak
    Slovak language

    The Slovak language , sometimes incorrectly called ?Slovakian?, is an Indo-European languages that belongs to the West Slavic languages .The Czech and Slovak languages are Mutual intelligibility which means that even after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia Czech may be used in all official proceedings and documents in Slovakia, and vice ver...
    ), established in 1328 is one of the oldest continuously manufacturing manufacturers worldwide.
  • Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre
    Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre

    The Royal Spanish Mint is the national mint of Economy of Spain.In 1893, two organizations, the Casa de la Moneda and the F?brica del Sello merged to create the F?brica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre....
    , Spain
    Spain

    Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
  • Birmingham Mint
    Birmingham Mint

    The Birmingham Mint, a Mint , originally known as Heaton's Mint or Ralph Heaton & Sons, in Birmingham, England started producing Token coin and coins in 1850 as a private enterprise, separate from, but in cooperation with the Royal Mint....
     (United Kingdom
    United Kingdom

    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
    )
  • Swissmint
    Swissmint

    Swissmint is the official Mint of the Switzerland. It is responsible for manufacturing Swiss franc coins, both of the currency and bullion variety....
    , Switzerland
    Switzerland

    Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....
  • Soho Mint
    Soho Mint

    Soho Mint was created by Matthew Boulton in 1778 in his Soho Manufactory in Handsworth, West Midlands, England.A Mint was erected at the manufactory containing eight machines, driven by steam engine, each capable of striking 70 to 84 coins per minute....
     (United Kingdom)
  • Dahlonega Mint
    Dahlonega Mint

    The Dahlonega Mint was a branch of the United States Mint in Dahlonega, Georiga. Coins produced at the Dahlonega Mint bear the "D" mintmark. That mintmark is used today by the Denver Mint, which opened many years after the Dahlonega Mint closed....
     (United States of America)
  • Franklin Mint
    Franklin Mint

    The Franklin Mint is a private corporation founded in the 1960s, based in Middletown, Pennsylvania, which markets coin-like tokens and other collectibles of its own designs....
     (United States of America)
  • United States Mint
    United States Mint

    The United States Mint primarily produces circulating currency for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The main Mint facility is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and branch mint are located in Denver, Colorado; San Francisco, California; and West Point, New York....


Hammered coin production


See also

  • List of Mints
    List of mints

    Mints are facilities that Mint coins or print banknotes.Argentina * Casa de la Moneda de la Republica ArgentinaAustralia ...
  • Branch mint
    Branch mint

    A branch mint is a satellite operation of a national mint ....
  • Master of the Mint
    Master of the Mint

    Master of the Mint was an important office in the governments of Kingdom of Scotland and Kingdom of England, and latterly Great Britain between the 16th and 19th centuries....
  • Münzmeister
    Münzmeister

    In medieval and early modern Germany, the M?nzmeister was the director or administrator of a mint with responsibility for the minting of coins, or specie....
  • Mint-made errors
    Mint-made errors

    Mint-made errors are errors in a coin made by the mint during the mint process. They are almost always accidental and in modern minting are usually very rare, making them valuable to numismatics....


External links