The back of the Philadelphia Mint is called the Automated Section. This is the cent production area. The planchet delivery, coinage press feeding, transportation after minting is all completely automated.

All machines on the automated side of the mint are quad presses. The automated side of the mint operates on conveyor systems, using bread pan like containers. (These resemble the pans used to bake bread, and will be called pans.) The conveyor line is made up of pan after pan; there is no space between pans. Each conveyor line is only one pan in width and each pan is about one foot in length and six inches wide.

Twelve machines are grouped into one operating unit. There are six machines on each side forming two rolls of machines. One conveyor belt runs along the top of each roll of machines, thus there are two conveyor belts supplying planchets. As the machine needs more planchets, the pan is rotated and automatically dumped into the holding bin at the top of each machine. The distance between the two rolls of machines separates these two conveyor belts.

As the coins are struck, they come out of the coinage press onto a revolving wheel. The coins are pushed into a holding bin on the side of the coinage press. This holding bin is angled down toward the floor at about a 45-degree angle. When the holding bin fills with cents, the operator checks a few with a three-power loop. If there are no defects, he releases the coins.

These coins then move down to a cookie sheet type structure. It is about one foot wide by about three feet long. It has holes the size of a cent spaced over the entire surface. There is about a two-inch lip on all sides of this structure and it is also angled toward the floor at about a 45-degree angle. This attachment is called a “Screen”.

Directly below the screen is a small conveyor belt. This conveyor belt moves all the cents that drop through the Screen. At first, a large number of cents move to the pans, but several drop from the Screen later, as they are pushed along by other coins.

Only one conveyer belt of pans is located in the middle of the two rows of coinage presses. A total of twelve quad presses, six quad presses in each row. Both rows of coinage presses share the same conveyer belt of pans. This conveyor belt is

Bagging Area:

The bagging area is divided into two sections. The automated section and the non-automated section. I was shown the non-automated section in my tour.

Each work area had two shuts leading into one counting machine. There were two bags on each machine, one to the right and one to the left of center. This was believed to represent two bags being filled at the same time.

This is not the case. One bag is filled and then the counting machine shifts over to start filling the other bag. When the counting machine starts filling the second bag, the bagging operator sews the filled bag with a portable electric sewing machine. When he release the sewing machine, it returns to a position above the counting machine.

The bagging operator must then remove the filled bag, place it on a heavy duty pellet. He then must place another bag on the bagging machine. All before the second bag is filled.

I asked to see the automated bagging area, but was informed it was not available for viewing at that time. I was told that each work station was designed with four counting machines per bagging operator.

Next issue we will explain the secrets to the numbers and letters placed on each bag of coins. We will also cover bag storage, tub delivery and the Federal Reserve System of delivery.

Have a question, need an answer, drop me a line. Frank M. Zapushek PO Box 1993, Bloomington, IL. 61702. mrz@bakercoins.net Your question might be my next article. No charge for authentication or questions.