New site for the Mint.

great advantage to the establishment. Only two Europeans now remain in the Mint, namely, Mr. Gowland, as Chemist, Assayer, and Technical Adviser, and Mr. MacLagan, as Engineer.

The negotiations into which the First Commissioner of Works has been authorised by their Lordships to enter with the Corporation of the City of London, with a view to the acquisition of a new site for the Mint on the Victoria Embankment at Whitefriars, not having as yet been brought to a conclusion, the question of the steps to be taken for placing the Department upon a proper footing and enabling it adequately to meet the claims upon it, is still in abeyance. I do not propose again to dwell upon the insufficiency and obsolete nature of the machinery of the present Mint, to which attention has been called in many former Reports, nor need I urge upon their Lordships the necessity, which they have uniformly recognised, of putting an end to the difficulties by which the Department has for many years been surrounded, and which have so greatly impaired its efficiency.

The Secretary,
Treasury.

I have the honour to be,

Royal Mint, 10th May 1879.

Sir,

Your obedient Servant,

C. W. FREMANTLE, Deputy Master of the Mint.

APPENDIX.

No. I.

MEMORANDUM BY MR. HILL, SUPERINTENDENT OF
OPERATIVE DEPARTMENT.

MELTING HOUSE.

Only 1,182,002 ounces, or about 36 tons of gold, which is considerably less than the average amount, have been melted and cast into bars for coinage during the year. In addition to this amount 108,923 ounces, being the balance of gold in the Mint at the conclusion of the coinage, were cast into ingots to be returned to the Bank of England.

The weight of silver melted during the year was 5,061,383 ounces, or about 155 tons. Of this amount, 1,284,392 ounces consisted of worn coin withdrawn from circulation in England, Scotland, Ireland, and the colonies; 783,876 ounces of silver purchased for coinage; and 2,993,115 ounces of scissel, rejected coin, &c.

During the year the gold and silver sweep which had accumulated was subjected to mechanical treatment, the metal recovered was brought to account, and the residue sold by tender in the usual manner.

Towards the end of the year it became necessary to increase the stock of bronze coin, and 51 tons of this metal were melted and cast into bars for coinage.

COINING DEPARTMENT.

The work in this Department has been very satisfactorily performed throughout the year, and without any serious derangement of machinery. The weight of the gold coinage of 8,186,4517. which was commenced in October 1875, and completed in June 1878, was within 24 ounces of the actual legal standard, and showed the fidelity with which the work in this Department is conducted. I would remark that this

variation from standard amounts to less than 101.

It is also highly satisfactory to state that the loss on the above coinage, including the loss upon the re-coinage of light gold coin, has been very small, the actual loss per million sterling having been 5437. 11s. 8d.,

whereas the loss on the previous coinage was at the rate of 8637. 5s. 8d. per million.

In the Annealing Room various experiments have been made with different sizes and shapes of the plumbago annealing-pots introduced in 1877 during the progress of the gold coinage, with a view to adopt them for the annealing of silver and bronze blanks. It was found that the pots used for gold blanks are not suited for blanks of the other metals, but a suitable size has now been decided upon. In using these pots for silver and bronze, a loose lining either of copper or thin iron is required, as silver and bronze oxidise more quickly than gold blanks. By means of this lining all air is excluded, and oxidation is prevented.

An alteration has been made in the width of the bronze bars, so that by a re-arrangement of the cutters any denomination of bronze blanks may be cut from the same width of fillet.

MACHINERY DEPARTMENT.

The machinery has been kept in fair working order during the past year, but the Artificers have been called upon, on several occasions, to work all night to repair or renew some part of the machinery which had become unserviceable during the day. The 40 and 20 horse-power engines were thoroughly examined, and were repaired as far as time allowed; the six horse-power engine was taken to pieces, examined, and put into good working order, and the boilers have been cleaned and repaired where necessary. In addition to the above repairs to engines, a new 10-ton steam-hammer has been fixed in the Smiths' shop. This hammer has been used for forging dies, &c., and has been found very effective. new boiler, supplied at the same time, has also been connected with the six horse-power engine; the necessary connexions and fittings have been made, and, together with the hammer and boiler, have been placed in position and fixed by the Mint Artificers. One set of new moulds for shilling bars has been prepared, planed, and fitted, together with two new sets of moulds for casting bronze bars.

A

The main water-tank which supplies the various buildings was examined during the year, and the tie-rods, bolts, &c. were found to be in bad condition, and to require renewal. This renewal was effected, and the tank placed in a thorough state of repair.

DIE DEPARTMENT.

This Department has during the past year prepared 3,732 matrices, punches, and dies of various descriptions, including dies for the silver and bronze coinages for Mauritius, 210 sovereign dies for the Melbourne Mint, 215 dies for the Sydney Mint, two medal reverse punches, and four medal dies. Of the above-mentioned dies, 372 were worn dies resunk, and again finished for coining.

The Department has also produced during the year the usual medals for the University of London and the Royal Society, including the new Davy medal; the gold and silver medals presented by the Foreign Office as rewards for assistance rendered in cases of shipwreck abroad; and 1,650 war medals for the Army and Navy. 7,057 bars and 209 clasps were made, and 4,945 bars and clasps were affixed to medals.

I append the usual statement of the number of coins struck during the year 1878, and of the number of dies used for the Imperial coinage during the years 1876, 1877, and 1878 respectively.

Royal Mint,

ROBERT A. HILL,

Superintendent of the Operative Department.

18th March 1879.

STATEMENT of the Number of Coins struck at the Royal Mint during

1878.