THE WORD FOR TODAY IS
laserart
Posts: 2,255 ✭
Castaing machine , really it's two words.
"If I had a nickel for every nickel I ever had, I'd have all my nickels back".
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<< <i>Is the first word even a word? CASTAING? >>
Yes... if I remember right, that is the machine that applied edge lettering to early coins
42/92
<< <i>
<< <i>Is the first word even a word? CASTAING? >>
Yes... if I remember right, that is the machine that applied edge lettering to early coins
Correct, it is the last name of a Frenchman that invented it.
42/92
The Castaing machine consisted of two linear dies, each with one-half of the edge lettering, in relief, or raised on the die. That is to say, for the half dollars, one of the linear dies would have the phrase "Fifty Cents or" and the other would have the phrase "Half a Dollar". These two linear dies were placed in the Castaing machine separated by the diameter of the coin in question, and facing each other. One of the dies was permanently secured, and did not move. The other of these linear dies had teeth on the back, which mated with a gear attached to a hand crank, such that when the hand crank was turned, the die would travel in a linear direction parallel to the other die. The two linear dies were placed opposite each other, but not quite parallel; they were arranged such that they were slightly out of parallel, so that if a planchet were placed in between the dies, and the moving die was cranked, as the dies moved, they pressed closer together, forcing the raised letters into the edge of the planchet. At the end of the travel, the planchet dropped through the bottom of the device, into a container below. The blank planchets, now with edge lettering applied, were later placed into the coin press and struck as coins. It was only later that edge reeding was used in place of edge lettering as an anti-counterfeiting device. The 'vertical' edge reeding could be applied by the close collar, eliminating one full step in the coin manufacturing process.
At one of the reknowned JRCS open house gatherings in the late 90's, several JRCS and Bust Half Nut people were gathered in a hotel room to discuss Bust coinage and early minting processes. Russ Logan, author of the early dime and half dime books, former Treasurer of the JRCS, and mentor to many of those assembled, brought with him a plain attache case, and placed it on the floor of the hotel room with very little ceremony. Part way through the evening, Russ' cheshire cat grin was almost too much to bear, so we asked him what was in the attache case. He responded "I don't know. Why don't you open it". We placed the attache case on the table, unlatched the cover, opened it and stood back in absolute amazement. There before our eyes was a beautiful, hand made model of the Castaing machine. It was truly a work of art, and something to behold. It was built on a beautifully finished wood base, and all of the metal parts were hand crafted in polished brass. As we stood in amazement, Russ admonished "Take it out of the case and look at it". "Try it" was his next comment. It was, in fact, a working model! He had made the opposing linear dies from rubber stamps, with the words "Fifty Cents or Half a Dollar". He had cut the rubber stamp in half, creating the two opposing linear dies. For his model, he used a section of cut pipe as the blank planchet (sort of a coin with a large hole in the middle). In the attache case were many pages of adhesive labels that he had somehow cut in narrow strips, almost as if they had been run through a paper shredder. You simply took one of the narrow adhesive labels, applied it to the outside of the piece of cut pipe (blank planchet), and cranked it through the Castaing machine. And voila! Upon inspection, you would find perfect edge lettering applied to the label. Each of the trial labels were removed and attached to a piece of paper, along with notes pertaining to how each test was run. The object, as Russ stated, was not to create perfect edge lettering (we knew how that was done), but rather to recreate examples of the known edge lettering errors. We all had fun taking turns trying to duplicate known edge lettering errors, and marvelling at the creative genius of this very intelligent and talented man. Russ is no longer with us, but his creativity, and his constant efforts to educate aspiring numismatists in the early minting processes, will not soon be forgotten.
It is my understanding that Russ' model Castaing machine is now in the possession of the Gallery Mint Museum, and used as an educational tool in their ongoing classes in early mint technology.
If you gentlemen will now excuse me, I must go watch my Patriots kick some serious butt in their NFL season opener.
This castaing machine is ticking me off. . .
Semper ubi sub ubi
hi, i'm tom.
i do not doctor coins like some who post in here.
hi, i'm tom.
i do not doctor coins like some who post in here.
I often wondered how these letters were done. Would this machine ever scratch these planchets ? or were they free to rotate without touching the face (obverse/reverse) and only the edge ? Once dropped from the castaing machine into another container, this would also create chances for damage. Could the machine BEND a coin ? or was it just enough pressure to squeeze the lettering into or out of the edge and still not enough force to damage the planchet ?
you did a fine job of explaining the mechanics, by the way. It just created a few questions in my mind, now
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
Pats win 19-17, sweet!
You bring up some interesting questions, and some for which I may not have all the answers. Despite what you may have heard, I am not quite old enough to actually have been there at the first United States Mint.
In considering all of the forces working on a planchet as it is turned through the Castaing machine, certainly the greatest forces are directed inward from the edge. There will always be the force of gravity acting to pull the planchet downward toward the top plate of the Castaing machine, but that is negligible by comparison. We are, of course, assuming that the linear dies of the Castaing machine are perfectly perpendicular to the plane of the top plate of the machine; if they are not, there will be a resulant component of force tending to direct the planchet either upward or downward as it rotates. If this force were directed downward, it would have a tendancy to 'scrape' the face of the planchet on the top plate of the Castaing machine. I am also assuming a smooth machined surface on that top plate, much like that on your table saw or drill press. Whatever 'scrapes' resulted from friction between the planchet and the top plate would be minor, and would also be circular in pattern. Under the enormous pressure of even a hand screw press, during striking, I cannot imagine that any such minor 'scrapes', should they occur, would even be visible on the struck coin. Any possible 'scrapes' resulting from the Castaing machine would certainly not be of the same magnitude as adjustment marks.
Of course, dropping a large and heavy planchet, such as those for a half dollar, dollar or large cent (all with edge lettering) into a container below the Castaing machine would very likely incur damage to the planchet. These might appear as what we collectively call 'bag marks', appearing as digs and dings in the face of the planchets. Again, these would have occured before the coin was struck, so much of the evidence of such digs would be obscured by the coin design, particularly in the fields (areas of highest relief for the dies), but could still be evident on the struck coin. Any such dig occuring in an area of highest relief on the coin (the deepest recesses in the die) would have a greater likelihood of being visible on the struck coin, as they would simply be forced deeper into the coin metal during striking.
As to whether the Castaing machine could bend a planchet, this would depend upon the spacing of the linear dies, the diameter of the planchet, the thickness of the planchet, and the arm of the Castaing machine operator. If a planchet were somehow oversized (of greater than specified diameter), if the linear dies were somehow too close together, or if the operator were feeling his oats, the difference would have to be made up somewhere, so it is possible that a planchet could be bent during this operation. It would seem that, as the Castaing machine completed its circular operation on the planchet, the planchet would become either concave or convex, however, rather than simply bent along some axis. Good question.
I am not sure if the 'modern equivalent' of the Castaing machine goes by the same name. I am not even sure if there actually is a modern equivalent of a Castaing machine. Do any mints presently use edge lettering? I have not studied or even looked at a modern coin in 25 years. Most modern coins that come to my mind have either edge reeding or a plain edge. One of the greatest reasons for applying edge lettering (or reeding, for that matter) was to discourage the widespread practice of 'scraping' of precious metal from the edges of coins in circulation. Unscrupulous merchants would often scrape a little silver (or gold) from the edge of each coin that passed through their hands, eventually accumulating a nice little cache of valuable metal. If the coin edge had lettering or reeding, this would be immediately evident to anyone receiving the coin in commerce. Of course, once all precious metal was removed from our coinage, and we began using fiat money, this was no longer a problem. But that is a discussion for another thread, and another day.
<< <i>
I am not sure if the 'modern equivalent' of the Castaing machine goes by the same name. I am not even sure if there actually is a modern equivalent of a Castaing machine. Do any mints presently use edge lettering? I have not studied or even looked at a modern coin in 25 years. Most modern coins that come to my mind have either edge reeding or a plain edge. One of the greatest reasons for applying edge lettering (or reeding, for that matter) was to discourage the widespread practice of 'scraping' of precious metal from the edges of coins in circulation. Unscrupulous merchants would often scrape a little silver (or gold) from the edge of each coin that passed through their hands, eventually accumulating a nice little cache of valuable metal. If the coin edge had lettering or reeding, this would be immediately evident to anyone receiving the coin in commerce. Of course, once all precious metal was removed from our coinage, and we began using fiat money, this was no longer a problem. But that is a discussion for another thread, and another day. >>
The mint was itching since 2000 to issue coins with edge devices since they had bought the equipment
to do it. While there are no modern coins with edge lettering, my understanding is that some (at least
one) ultramodern has been issued recently with it.