|
The Boulton and Watt Thoroughly Steamed Pennies!Boulton and Watt developed a steam-powered coin press to produce pennies of higher quality with greater efficiency. Their enormous two pence coin, pictured above, is a marvel of the Industrial Revolution.PartnershipMatthew Boulton was a businessman with an engineering background. He inherited his family’s silver stamping business, which, after successfully lobbying Parliament, he parlayed into operation of the Birmingham Assay Office.This boosted the standing of the local silversmith industry significantly, by allowing local hallmarking of silver products to verify their quality. James Watt is a name forever linked to the Industrial Revolution. In 1765 Watt, in effect, reinvented the steam engine by adding a condenser. So what is a condenser and why is it such a big deal? Basically, it recaptures some of the water used in making steam, which conserves energy and saves fuel. It meant that steam engines would use as little as one third the fuel for a given amount of work. Appropriately, Watt also coined the term “horsepower”. Matthew Boulton and James Watt began their partnership in 1775. Full Steam Ahead!Not surprisingly, they began to apply steam power to everything in sight – first at Boulton’s Soho Manufactory, near Birmingham. Boulton had been concerned that the water wheel powered factory could be disrupted by a drought. (Although steam engines use water too, water wheels need much more!)Boulton and Watt were well qualified to build and sell steam engines as another line of business, so, they did. Boulton’s original business model was not to sell the steam engines outright, but rather, charge the customer an annual fee based on the fuel saved from Watt’s super efficient engine design. Watt even developed a tamper-proof means for tracking that number that could be installed on the engine. Steam Powered MintingThe Soho works had a button department. Along the way, the button department produced some merchant tokens. This activity grew into a steady business. Adding steam power to the coining presses increased output capacity and striking quality.The power of the steam coining press was most impressively demonstrated in 1797 when Boulton and Watt used their press to strike Britain’s first copper pennies. Each was a solid copper disc of one ounce – sharply and evenly struck beyond any coinage produced anywhere. They followed this up with a two ounce two penny piece that immediately became known as a “cartwheel”. A Fine Old Chunk of a TuppenceThe two pence coin was really two big and heavy to be of practical use. But it marked the beginning of steam powered minting. Today these wonderful old Boulton and Watt paperweights, of which 700,000 were made (all in 1797), are a must-have item for many world coin collectors.1797 Two Pence coin image courtesy of Goldberg Coins & Collectibles. Go to Top of Boulton and Watt page… What is the History of the Penny? Go to Home page…
|
