Old Mint in Segovia. Spain.

[Filat]

Old Mint in Segovia. Spain → http://www.segoviamint.org/espanol/historia.htm#mapas

[chrisild]

Peter was there, not too long ago.

http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php?topic=21475.msg158280#msg158280

Christian

[Filat]

Peter was there, not too long ago.
http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php?topic=21475.msg158280#msg158280
Christian

I sincerely Petru envy the.

[izotz]

Even though the website does not have a very professional design, you can tell there is an effort of gathering a lot of information together, an also to make it accessible.
So that link is also available in English :
http://www.segoviamint.org/english/history.htm

[Figleaf]

Here is the inner courtyard, decorated by the Alcazar in the high town. The mint had to be in the low town, though that is a security issue, because it works on water power and the river wouldn't go uphill. The building started life as a tannery. It was purchased by the state to be turned into a water-powered mint. Know-how was lacking, so it was purchased from the Hall in Tyrol mint. The Spaniards probably overpaid, because archduke Ferdinand (also a Habsburger) threw in a free metal-rolling machine. The mint was set up in the period 1583 to 1585.

Peter

[Figleaf]

Alongside the river, below the ground floor was the machinery. Some of it was reconstructed by the museum. The reconstructed equipment is in working condition. In the foreground is what I take to be a grinding stone, used for sharpening tools. It is driven by foot power, not water power.

Peter

[Figleaf]

The power of the water is captured by a large water wheel outside. The axle of the wheel goes inside, taking the power inside the building, so it can drive the machines. The axle needs to be heavily secured, as lack of precision gives it the freedom to move in unwanted directions, causing wear and mechanical failure.

Peter

[Figleaf]

Power is distributed by a series of wheels and maybe gearboxes. This may be one of those machines, a rolling press. The dies are fixed on rollers that press into a strip of metal. To be successful, the upper and lower roller must go at the same speed and the strip of metal must be fed in exactly straight. The web site of the Segovia mint has splendid pictures of rolling dies, coined strips and misaligned strips.

Another machine would cut the coins out of the strips. This machine would also have to work with great precision. A third would add an edge decoration. These machines were not reconstructed.

Peter

[Figleaf]

Here is a secondary application. To the left of the metal melting oven is a large bellows. The handle turns it on and off. The bellows would not take a lot of power.

Peter

[Figleaf]

As a bonus, I found this cutie in the museum. At first sight, it looks like a screw press and that may be what it is, but I suspect it was actually used for cutting flans out of metal sheets with greater precision than the machine that would have been in the main machine hall. If so, it would have been used only for presentation pieces, medals and other luxury items, rather than for circulation coins.

I also suspect the machine was originally mounted on a large, thick wooden table, giving more stability than the lower part, which looked more modern than the machine.

Peter