European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 14, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                              A Coin about to flt a " on coins by Bob Hoyer is . Bureau chief there s Money to be made Mak 1 ing Money  Britain s Royal mint has been cashing in on the Cash requirements of other nations Lor a thou Sand years. During 1967 alone the Money machines at the mint in London s Tower Hill churned out 925 million coins for39 Commonwealth  foreign nations. Since 1954 More than 60 nations have placed Money orders with the Royal  1967 output represented nearly 70 per cent of total production of 1.366 Bil lion coins but even this kind of capacity will soon be  mint is due to move to Tantri Sant Wales in the Early 1970s where the bulk of the coins for Britain s new Decimal currency will be produced the move will signal the end of 13 centuries of continuous Money making in London most of it on Tower Hill. Lack of space on the present premises adjacent to the Tower of London has dictated the move to Wales. In the meantime the men on Tower Hill Are still Busy punching oat shillings  Pence  Money for Over seas customers. A tour of facilities provides the nest explanation of the minting process. A noisy steamy place the site of production is a Complex of sprawling Tow buildings stuffed with furnaces milling punching  pressing machines. Security is a matter of concern to min supervisors although it is not evident washed  dried in rotating barrels Coin Blanks pour into a moveable Hopper ready for stamping. Among the workmen surrounded by buckets of gleaming freshly minted  mint uses Copper Nickel tin Zinc Silver  a Small Quantity of Goldin the production of coins. The coinage process May be describe Din four stages Metal bars Are prepared in fur these Are rolled into fillets the de sired thickness of coins  softened in. Furnaces for the next stage. Blank discs Are punched from Fil lets. After receiving a rim they awestruck with the desired impression in High Speed machines containing Dies. Upon leaving machines inspectors Check the new coins for obvious flaws  intermittently individual coins Are picked out  measured for thickness. After weighing coins Are packed for delivery in bags made in British prisons by inmates some of whom Are serving tune for theft of Money. A copy of All coins struck at the min goes to the museum which is not open to the Public due to Lack of exhibition space. In addition to making Money on foreign coins the mint actually earn Money on British coins which since 1946 have been composed of cipro Nickel Alloy 75 per cent Copper  25 per cent Nickel. This Alloy was approved As a replace ment for coins that contained a High percentage of Silver which in turn were used to replenish the Silver sup plied Britain by the . Under lend lease terms during world War it. In addition to coinage the mint produces a number of commemorative medals for the British  reducing machinery  intricate Dies increase the Cost of these medals. The Art of coinage in Britain dates Back to the first Century . And historians claim it has been continuously practice in London since the seventh Century  was a temporary interruption when the mint fell into Viking hands but since the time of William the conqueror 1066 it has continued a relatively quiet  profitable existence. By 1300 the mint was moved into the Tower of London where it remained until 157 years ago when production was begun on the present five acre tract near the  year 1662 marked a turning Point in the Art of Money making. That s when the Royal mint introduced machinery in place of the hand held die   old time employees of the Tower Hill mint have complained about the move to Wales but the government claims there s no room for expansion on present premises  claims that the move is part of the Overall plan formational decentralization. In any event the new mint will be equipped with the latest  most efficient Money making machinery As the Royal mint will continue to compete for a t Idy share of the world s Money Mak ing business. Is Schuttler behind these Walls Money machines churn out millions of coins each year. Wednesday August 14, 1968 the stars  stripes the Art of coinage in Britain dates Bach to the first Century . And historians rain it has been continuously practice in London since the seventh Century . 99 Page 11