BasketThe history of money
The history of Finnish money
Numismatic vocabulary
About a Coin Exhibition in Science Centre Heureka
The tale of a coin
Junior coin collector’s knowledge base
The making of money The making of circulation coins
The making of collector coins
Tool manufacture
Coin minting requires speciality tools. A digitised image of the coin is engraved in the original master die or matrix, which is then chemically reinforced through tempering. On the matrix, the image appears as a negative. A working punch is formed when the matrix is pressed on the end of a steel cylinder. The punch is used to make the working die, where the image again appears as a negative. When a coin is struck using the working punch, the image also appears “right side up” on the final coin.
Several hundred punches can be pressed with just one mould, and just as many stamps with a single punch. Finally, up to ten million coins can be minted with one stamp.
A high-speed cutter is preparing the matrix. It may take up to 24 hours to carve one tool.
The steel blanks for the matrices, punches and dies are tempered in a tempering stove. As steel hardens, its structure is modified by heating it red-hot and then cooling it quickly in an oil bath. Tempered steel is capable of withstanding the intense surface pressure caused by e.g. striking.
