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Soho Mint was created by
In order to differentiate his proposed copper coins from counterfeits Boulton specified them as follows:
; twopence: weight, diameter 8 to the foot ()
;
Their weight in pure copper should be so close to the intrinsic value of the material that counterfeiting would be uneconomic. The diameter was made strictly defined by striking within a collar so that diameter, thickness and weight could be used to prove the quality of the metal.
In 1797 the first, and only, copper twopence and the first penny coins were produced under contract although the smaller denominations did not follow until later.''British Coins Market Values'', Link House Magazines Ltd, 1993, These coins were comparatively large, having a broad raised rim with the inscription pressed below the surface and became known as the ''cartwheel'' pennies. Over 45 million were struck in two years.
Britain's Cartwheel Coinage of 1797sohomint.info
A website celebrating Matthew Boulton, his mint and its products {{Authority control 1788 establishments in England History of Birmingham, West Midlands Mints of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1788
Soho Mint was created by Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton (; 3 September 172817 August 1809) was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century, the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engin ...
in 1788 in his Soho Manufactory () in Handsworth, West Midlands
Handsworth () is a suburb and an inner-city area of Birmingham in the West Midlands. Historically in Staffordshire, Handsworth lies just outside Birmingham City Centre and near the town of Smethwick.
History
The name ''Handsworth'' origi ...
, England. A mint was erected at the manufactory containing eight machines, to his own patent design, driven by steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be ...
, each capable of striking 70 to 85 coins per minute.
In addition to copper domestic coins, silver coins were made for some of the colonies, and various trade tokens and medals were struck.''Old and New Birmingham: A History of the Town and its People'', Robert Kirkup Dent, Published by Houghton and Hammond, Scotland Passage, Birmingham, 1880 Among the medals produced were the Seringapatam medal, made for the East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sout ...
in 1801–2 to reward participants of the Battle of Seringapatam, and a medal for the Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval battle, naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–De ...
, which Matthew Boulton produced at his own expense and gave to all those present at the 1805 battle.
After the demise of the Soho Mint some of the machinery was bought at auction, in 1850, by the new Birmingham Mint
The Birmingham Mint was a coining mint and metal-working company based in Birmingham, England. Formerly the world's largest privately-owned mint, the company produced coins for many foreign nations including France, Italy, China, and much of the ...
of Ralph Heaton II.
Cartwheel penny
The common coinage, copper halfpennies, was subject to severecounterfeit
To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...
ing.
No copper coinage had been issued by the Royal Mint
The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins.
Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclu ...
since 1754 apart from inadequate issues of halfpence and farthings from 1770 to 1775.
In order to differentiate his proposed copper coins from counterfeits Boulton specified them as follows:
; twopence: weight, diameter 8 to the foot ()
;penny
A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...
:, diameter 17 to two feet ()
; half-penny:, diameter 10 to a foot ()
; farthing:, diameter 12 to a foot ()
Their weight in pure copper should be so close to the intrinsic value of the material that counterfeiting would be uneconomic. The diameter was made strictly defined by striking within a collar so that diameter, thickness and weight could be used to prove the quality of the metal.
In 1797 the first, and only, copper twopence and the first penny coins were produced under contract although the smaller denominations did not follow until later.''British Coins Market Values'', Link House Magazines Ltd, 1993, These coins were comparatively large, having a broad raised rim with the inscription pressed below the surface and became known as the ''cartwheel'' pennies. Over 45 million were struck in two years.Victor Skipp
The name Victor or Viktor may refer to:
* Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname
Arts and entertainment
Film
* ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film
* ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
, ''A History of Greater Birmingham - down to 1830'', 1980.
See also
*British halfpenny coin
The British pre-decimal halfpenny, (pronounced ), historically also known as the obol and once abbreviated ''ob.'' (from the Latin 'obulus'), was a denomination of sterling coinage worth of one pound, of one shilling, or of one penny. ...
regarding counterfeit coinage
*History of mints
A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins that can be used as currency.
The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. In the beginning, hammered coinage or cast coinage were the chief means of coin minting ...
*History of the British penny (1714-1901)
The British pre-decimal penny was a denomination of sterling coinage worth of one pound or of one shilling. Its symbol was ''d'', from the Roman denarius. It was a continuation of the earlier English penny, and in Scotland it had the same m ...
* ''Old Bess'', a steam engine at the Mint
References
External links
Britain's Cartwheel Coinage of 1797
A website celebrating Matthew Boulton, his mint and its products {{Authority control 1788 establishments in England History of Birmingham, West Midlands Mints of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1788