COIN-ART    

Last time, we talked about currency notes. Let’s now look at coins – the first form money. Metal coins were first used by the Sumerians in 3000 BC. But their formal use probably began between 643 and 630 BC in Lydia, with coins being made out of valuable metals like electrum (a naturally occurring alloy of silver and gold). India has been one of the earliest makers of coins in the world (circa 6th Century BC).

Some centuries ago, coins were manufactured by hitting hammer, positioned over an anvil. But now, the process is very different…

     Minting method     

• Metallic replicas of approved sketches, created by a process known as Die-making, are produced on planchets (flat disks of metal ready for stamping, or Coin Blanks).
   
• Metal alloys used in making coins are melted in furnaces and cast into ingots (metal blocks).
   
• Rolling mills turn them into long strips of the required thickness.
   
• The strips are fed into high-speed punch presses to cut them into proper size.
   
• They are softened by annealing (heating and slow cooling), cleaned and dried.
   
• An edge-rolling machine “squeezes” the coin blanks to form the edge (raised or "upset").
   
• The Coining Press stamps the designs of both obverse and reverse dies onto the blank.

The coins that are withdrawn from the market, are sent back to the Mints for melting and then, they are recast

The coins that are withdrawn from the market, are sent back to the Mints for melting and then, they are recast
Denomination	Metal	Weight	Diameter	Shape
	Cupro-Nickel	9.00 gms	23 mm	Circular
	Cupro-Nickel	6.00 gms	26 mm	Eleven Sided
	Ferratic Stainless Steel	4.85 gms	25 mm	Circular
	Ferratic Stainless Steel	3.79 gms	22 mm	Circular
	Ferratic Stainless Steel	2.83 gms	19 mm	Circular
	Ferratic Stainless Steel	2.00 gms	16 mm	Circular