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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. The new copper coins were issued at the Soho Mint and by Charlotte Matthews in London who was the banker and business advisor to Watt and Boulton.
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
Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton ( ; 3 September 172817 August 1809) was an English businessman, inventor, mechanical engineer, and silversmith. He was a business partner of the Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century, the par ...
in 1788 in his Soho Manufactory
The Soho Manufactory () was an early factory which pioneered mass production on the assembly line principle, in Soho, Birmingham, England, at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. It operated from 1766–1848 and was demolished in 1853.
B ...
() in Handsworth, West Midlands
Handsworth () is an inner-city area of Birmingham in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historically in Staffordshire, Handsworth lies just outside Birmingham City Centre and near the town of Smethwick. In 2021 the ...
, 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 Work (physics), 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 (locomotive), cyl ...
, 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 that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
in 1801–2 to reward participants of the Battle of Seringapatam, and a medal for the Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...
, 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
A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...
ing.
No copper coinage had been issued by the Royal Mint
The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's official maker of British coins. It is currently located in Llantrisant, Wales, where it moved in 1968.
Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly ow ...
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 (: pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. At present, it is ...
:, 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. The new copper coins were issued at the Soho Mint and by Charlotte Matthews in London who was the banker and business advisor to Watt and Boulton.
See also
* British halfpenny coin regarding counterfeit coinage * History of mints * History of the British penny (1714-1901) * ''Old Bess'', a steam engine at the MintReferences
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