Need ideas for a coin press.

Ok, I want to know how I can manufacture or acquire some sort of coin minting device for novelty purposes. Basically I want an adult version of the elongated penny machine.

Something simple and sort of smallish that could press a silver dollar sized planchet with relative ease. A screw press or something with a geared hand crank would be ideal, hydraulic may be necessary though.

Does anyone know of a company that manufactures something similar today? Or where to acquire a press that can hold a modern die to stamp a coin?

 

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For elongated coins, I would rent one from the manufacturer of the press first by the month. If all goes well and it becomes affordable, then buy. Check any machine for the company name on an attached plaque and call then. Or talk to a museum, any tourist attractions or any location or event you received one from. For a die press machine, that's a different situation. You might find a lot more red tape with the government to acquire such a machine. They just don't sell them to anybody. They are very particular about the die visuals and planchette size. You will probably need to submit drawings of what your product will look like along with what ToughCOINS said. You could ask any private mint for a contacts name. I would start with the Franklin Mint. It maybe cheaper to have them do it.

 

Smallish? Capable of striking a silver dollar-sized planchet?

It would probably require a press capable of striking at 100+ tons or more. How much do you think that would cost?

Chris

 

If you strike pewter, you don't need as much pressure. Take a look at the ANA's
"mini mint." During the summer seminar, we took the class I was teaching there, and everyone got to strike a few tokens. It was pretty cool.

https://www.money.org/money-museum/mini-mint

 

Well, by "smallish", I'm assuming you don't mean one of these:

http://www.moonlightmint.com/artifacts.htm

I'd be willing to bet that if you could live with a lower number of strikes per hour, you could use a much less complicated machine.

At the low end, reading Numismatic Forgery will give you some ideas of how you can make a small-scale minting device in your garage. Beyond that, I'm not really sure what would be involved.

 

Not tried, just a thought...why not cast to approximate size and detail and then use a press for the last mm to eliminate surface cast marks.

 

Last year our local club did a silver dollar sized copper medal for our 700th meeting. We had 150 made and it cost about $5 each. That included the cost of the dies, the planchets and striking.

If you wanted to make your own press the simplest and cheapest way to go would be a drop press.

 

Made in Germany in 1986... and it's still working... how cool is that

 

Well-maintained presses can last a Very Long Time. The first steam press was made in 1836 and still works. (OK, it's been converted to electricity and isn't run often, but it still works). Carson City's "Press #1" was built in 1869 and is still used on occasion.

 

Not sure what you're trying to do with this. Do you want to play mint, are you trying to make some money selling tokens, something else? Might be easier to get a custom punch made and counterstamp coins. If you're trying to make medals or tokens to sell there are plenty of manufacturers that could support your needs.

 

I think up to now everyone has missed a detail of the OP: "Basically I want an adult version of the elongated penny machine."

Most of the supplied answers deal with standard presses that apply pressure in a single axis.

The "elongated penny" type machine works differently. It uses rollers that have an image engraved into the face of the roller to draw out a penny into an elongated ellipse while at the same time impressing a new design on one face.

This is even more complex in terms of machining and fabrication than a single axis press. Your two biggest machining considerations will be:

1) Coming up with an engraved die surface machined onto a hardened roller

and

2) The bearing mounts for the rollers which must deal with TONS of thrust force

Both of these problems have solutions in industry but I would not expect either to be "cheap" or "easy".


Aside from the small issues of bringing this concept to reality, I really like the idea (at least for novelty's sake). If I understand the OP, you basically want to be able to toss a "cheapo" silver dollar into this thing and have the machine roll it out while impressing some design on it?? Those die rollers are gonna be expensive

 

...On second thought...


Again, all this hinges on weather I correctly understand what the OP wants to do.


Get yourself a used rolling mill that can handle the thickness of metal that the coin you want to squish is made out of. This takes care of item number 2 I listed above: the strong thrust bearings and it also takes care of the frame. Then all you need is a machinist who can do the engraving in a hardened roller for the design you wish to impress into the surface of the coin. <--NOT CHEAP


Things to consider:


The typical penny press takes a single pass to reduce a penny's thickness by more than half. Rolling mills usually take many passes to squish metal that much. You may have to have two sets of rollers--the first set rolls your starter coin thinner and thinner over a few passes. Then the second set of rollers has the design that you want to impress.

Also, rolling mills typically roll out long bars. You are starting out with a coin (not a long bar). You may have to design a carrier/holder to get the coin started in the rollers. On thing you DON'T want to do is get your hands anywhere near the rollers.


This is probably a costly undertaking and a bit odd but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be done

 

I want to strike 1 oz or 1/2 oz silver/gold novelty coins with a theme like elongated pennies in regards to the local area. Basically I want it in a coin shop to draw people in from a window with an option to make their own coin and to be something cool to experience. It could certainly be used as advertising and a business expense by charging for the rounds. I just want something very basic, easy to use, and relatively cheap to buy or make.

 

A 1/2 oz. gold coin is more money than someone would spend on a novelty.

I guess the bottom line question is on the order of what you want to spend on this. "Relatively cheap" means different things to different people.

 

I agree with @messydesk. If producing novelty items is what you want it for, you're best off striking in copper. Keep in mind that the larger the planchet, the more striking force you'll need. Something approximately the size of a half cent might be good for a novelty piece.

 

You could look at a screw press for jewellery can go over 100 tons you find them were they sell used industrial machinery

 

This is true, but maybe a collector or somebody who has the money would want one. Its not practical and realizing that larger/harder coins need bigger machinery I ideally would want to use a half ounce silver and sort of thin with a larger diameter.

As for keeping 'inventory' on hand. I am ok with holding 10 half ounce gold planchets in case someone wants one. After all they will still retain their intrinsic value.

The copper idea would be ok, but I am trying to think of something more inspiring than the elongated penny idea, so I am wanting to use a precious metal and a little more sophisticated machinery than the penny and more true to numismatics versus just machinery to make a coin (although that will work, I would like to use a screw press ideally)

 

I could think of a Jeweler's Press, an elongating coin machine or simply make a hammered coin.

Each method has its pluses and minuses in terms of finished product, cost of dies and/or machine, etc.

I think that a hammered coin would be the simplest method of making "medieval" looking coins.

There was a guy striking such "medieval" coins (from various metallic planchets) at one of the last ANA Conventions (don't recall which one), and I still have his card somewhere, if this is the route you want to take.