Mondo Knows Facts
Coins are struck under pressure rather than cast
A hardened die punches the design into a blank disc in one heavy blow A mint feeds plain metal blanks between two hardened dies and strikes them with presses capable of hundreds of tonnes of force. The metal flows into the die cavities, so the design stands proud of the flat field instead of being cut in as engraving would be. Modern presses strike hundreds of coins a minute. It sits in Mondo's everyday life collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
Where this comes from
Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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More facts like this
Milled coin edges were introduced to prevent precious metal clippingIsaac Newton introduced reeded coin perimeters to expose illegal metal shavingA padlock shackle is held by a notchBall bearings or a latch drop into a cut groove to lock the hardened loopPress studs click shut as a split ring springsA domed brass ring in the socket spreads, then closes behind the studAn eyelet is a tube flared over a washerSqueezing the two parts together lines the hole with smooth metalCoins give archaeologists a firm date for a layerA ruler's portrait and mint marks tie a deposit to a short span of yearsAustralia issued the first polymer banknote in 1988The plastic ten dollar note was made for the bicentenary and survives washing
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Tags: coins, minting, metalwork
Coins are struck under pressure rather than cast: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- A hardened die punches the design into a blank disc in one heavy blow. The figure is taken from United States Mint, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a everyday life fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Everyday Life shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.