Everyone expressed different opinions on the entire process flow and coin material specifications. Some people suggested that the silver coin of this specification is too thick. In fact, Yuan Datou's size is 39mm, and the thickness is. If it is cast into a diameter of 31mm, the thickness of the silver coin becomes
.And it can't be blown at all - blowing and listening are important folk methods for identifying the authenticity of silver coins. If the coins are cast too thick, it will open the door to counterfeit coins.
He proposed that the specifications of the new one-dollar silver coins be changed to 25g each, with a thickness and diameter of . The advantage is that the scale of the silver coins can be completely standardized: a pack of 40 coins is 10m high, and the weight is exactly 1kg. It is easy to count and package.
The size of the auxiliary coins has also been adjusted accordingly. The metallurgical department proposed that there is no need to use electrolytic silver or copper for coinage. Fire-method silver and copper can also reach 99% purity. The small amount of impurities contained in fire-method smelting mainly affects the conductivity.
It hinders and has no effect on stamping coins.
Regarding auxiliary coins, some elders suggested that the concept of a quarter dollar is not unintuitive enough for the natives. I am afraid it will cause misunderstandings in use. It is better to cast two-cent and one-cent silver cents instead.
"Changing 25 points to 20 points is not a problem in terms of production, but we will lose a fortune in seigniorage." Cheng Dongliang pondered.
"What's the loss?"
"The cost of producing one 25-cent piece and one 20-cent piece is almost the same. Even if reducing the size and weight can reduce the cost, it won't actually save much. It means that we lose 5 cents for every 20-cent piece we cast.
Profit. In the same way, we can’t mint 10-cent coins.”
"why?"
"The difference is too small. From the perspective of minting, it is a loss." Cheng Dong explained that the difference between the face value of 10 cents and 20 cents is only twice, not to mention that the difference in casting costs is negligible. In terms of the cost of coin materials alone,
Two 10-cent coins cost more than one 20-cent coin.
During the Republic of China, Guangdong issued a large number of silver cents, with face values of 20 cents, 10 cents and 5 cents. However, the so-called double cents were minted and circulated in large quantities. The latter two types were not issued much because of their high cost and easy loss, and were used even less.
"If we blindly reduce the cost of coin materials, the fineness of the silver coins will be too poor. If the fineness of the silver coins is less than 50%, to be honest, it will be meaningless."
"I think it would be better to issue 10-cent copper coins. This way the cost is affordable. Copper coins can be made of brass and mixed with a small amount of lead. The copper content can be controlled at 60%."
"The demand for auxiliary coins is astonishing. How much copper is needed to meet the demand..."'
"We have already issued banknotes of equal amounts. We just issue less copper coins and more banknotes."
In terms of reserves of copper materials alone, there are quite a few planning institutes. In recent years, the planning institutes have collected copper materials almost abnormally. As a result, the planning institutes have stored a considerable amount of copper materials. However, due to the shortage of power, refrigeration, communications and some mechanical industries,
The demand for copper cannot be said to be abundant. What's more, the casting of silver coins itself consumes a large amount of copper.
"The memorandum also proposed the need for electrolytic silver and electrolytic copper. Our production capacity will be even more difficult to meet."
"If there are enough electric tubes now, I would not object to the widespread use of electrolytic silver and copper. After all, after electrolyzing non-ferrous metals, there will be a lot of rare metals in the anode mud that we usually cannot obtain. But now our power gap is still huge.
Yes, red copper is not enough to satisfy the electric power industry..." The veteran of the metallurgical department looked embarrassed.
Then some elders suggested that there is no issuing agency on the coins, which seems inappropriate. Although modern coins generally do not suppress the country name or the issuing bank, it seems that corresponding marks should be added in this time and space.
"I have an opinion: Not to mention that the Chinese don't know what s.p.q.m. means, even foreigners don't understand it. Spanish coins still have the abbreviation of the mint. Even if our coins don't have the country name, they must at least have it.
An issuing bank. It would be great if everyone knows where the money will be made in the future."
Wang Ruixiang suggested: "It is too wasteful to use carbide tools to engrave molds every time. Our self-produced tools have shortcomings. Not only are the output low, the quality is also poor, and the lifespan is extremely short. Do you think this will work? Use hard alloy tools.
Use a high-quality alloy tool to engrave copper, make a master copy of the coin, electroform it once to make a mold corresponding to the yin and yang sides, and then just use this master to continue electroforming. After all, chemical batteries and metals are easier to make than alloy knives.
"
Wang Luobin shook his head: "A mold takes a long time. Your process is extremely costly and inefficient, and the mold surface is too easy to break. Especially when facing steel materials, the matrix of the punch die itself is easily deformed -
―The strength is not enough. Besides, we want to engage in industry. The tool alloy must be passed, and there is no need to go around it. And the faster, the better. It doesn’t matter if you don’t do it well, just do more and try more. Our current conditions are much better than before.”
After some discussion, it was finally decided to modify the coin specifications to conform to the idea of "standardization". In addition, the issuing bank was added to the coin: the Central Reserve Bank of the Senate. As for the currency materials used, it is no longer stipulated that electrolytic silver or copper must be used.
It only stipulates that the currency material must be 99% pure. In addition, it was decided to change the original 25-cent denomination to 20-cent denomination. As for the 10-cent coinage, it will not be minted for the time being. Currently, only banknotes are issued.
"How long will it take to make the finished product?" Cheng Dong asked, seeing that a consensus had been reached.
"If the equipment is complete, the samples can be finished in two weeks. However, it will take some time to adjust later. I think one month is enough." Liang Xin said, "I just don't know if the coin materials can be fully supplied."
"Don't worry about this." Cheng Dong said, "After the implementation of the new currency system is finalized, we will begin to recast all the silver in stock in our hands into 99% silver bars, each of which is 1kg. I just don't know how to cast it.
What is the monthly production capacity of the coin factory?"
"The design capability is to produce 40,000 coins of various types per day." Liang Xin said, "If we fully produce, we can produce 80,000 coins per day. It all depends on whether the coin materials are sufficient. This number is actually very low. Nanjing in the early 20th century
The mint can produce 120,000 Yuan Datou every day, and if it works overtime, the production capacity can be doubled."
"With a monthly output of 1.2 million pieces, based on our silver inventory, production will have to stop in one month." Cheng Dong was secretly frightened. The total silver inventory in the warehouse of the Planning Institute, regardless of fineness, was only 700,000 taels (37 grams taels).
Even if it is resmelted and mixed with copper, zinc and other materials, it is still one month's output.
I wonder if 1.2 million coins of various kinds can meet the circulation demand in the market? The currency reform of the Senate, to put it bluntly, is the "abolition of two coins and the reform of the yuan", which is a huge impact on the past standard currency of weighing silver + copper coins. Guangdong's
He had no idea what kind of reaction there would be in the market, and whether there would be a financial struggle such as a "currency war."
What he is particularly worried about is that some people will hoard silver coins, or worse, the minted silver coins cannot meet the demand for circulation at all. The number of silver coins that the Ministry of Finance can put on the market is limited. Although it can be supplemented from the spoils of war, it will not be enough for Guangdong.
We cannot have high expectations for the treasury of high-level government officials. As for tax revenue, that will only come in the summer.
The elders of the Ministry of Finance actually all hope to "catch local tycoons". But this income is completely unpredictable.
The meeting ended with Cheng Dong worried. After the meeting, several mechanical industry veterans headed by Liang Xin immediately started making molds.
Taking into account that the Hong Kong factory lacks enough naturalized technicians, and the equipment and materials are not as complete as those in Lingao. Therefore, the steel molds for several coins are made in Lingao, and then put into special boxes and taken to Hong Kong by Liang Xin.
coin factory.
The Hong Kong Mint is located near Central. This new factory is temporarily in charge of Liang Xin and will be handed over to the Ministry of Finance after it is officially put into operation. According to the establishment, the director and accounting director of the Mint are appointed by the Currency Bureau of the Ministry of Finance. Factory
There are two departments: General Affairs and Production. The General Affairs Department has a general affairs room, a cashier's room, a material warehouse, a coal bunker, a currency material warehouse and a calibration center. In addition, petition police employed by the Ministry of Finance and dispatched by the National Police are on guard in the factory. The Foundry Department is equipped with
There is a technical room, with workshops below for power, smelting, rolling, stamping, polishing, pickling, molds, weighing, printing, etc. Although the scale of each workshop is not large, it can be said that even though it is small, it has all the internal organs.
.
Except for a few laborers, the Hong Kong Mint is almost all skilled workers, all of whom were trained by the Senate itself. Due to its special geographical location and the special work of the Mint, the selection of workers is very careful.
To meet the standard, one must have a high political rating, a clean family background, and direct relatives living in Lingao. Those who have no worries are not accepted.
After Liang Xin arrived in Hong Kong, he immediately began to prepare machinery and equipment, trained workers to familiarize themselves with the process, and started work as soon as the coin materials arrived. The biggest difficulty in casting coins is making molds. After making a qualified mold, there is not much technical difficulty in making coins.
It can be said that any mechanical processing company can produce coins as long as it has a punch press of a certain tonnage.
Not long after, the first batch of coin material was shipped to Hong Kong. It was smelted by the metallurgical port specifically for the mint. It was a 1kg metal bar with a purity of 99%. In addition to silver and copper, there was also a small amount of zinc bars. Add zinc
To improve the wear resistance of coins
The coins delivered are put into a special crucible in proportion to the type of casting and smelted in a reverberatory furnace. According to common sense, such smelting should be done with an electric furnace. If a crucible is used for smelting, at least coke must be used as fuel. Now Liang
Xinjie does not have an electric furnace and lacks coke, so it can only use high-quality Hongji anthracite instead. Fortunately, the use of reverberatory furnaces and blowers can provide sufficient temperature for melting alloys. (To be continued.)