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Soho Mint was created by Matthew Boulton in 1788〔http://www.sohomint.info/mantimeline.html〕 in his Soho Manufactory () in Handsworth, West Midlands, England. A mint was erected at the manufactory containing eight machines, to his own patent design,〔 driven by steam engine, each capable of striking 70 to 84 coins per minute. In addition to copper domestic coins, silver coins were made for some of the colonies, and various medals and trade tokens were struck.〔''Old and New Birmingham: A History of the Town and its People'', Robert Kirkup Dent, Published by Houghton and Hammond, Scotland Passage, Birmingham, 1880 〕 After the demise of the Soho Mint some of the machinery was bought at auction, in 1850, by the new Birmingham Mint of Ralph Heaton II.〔''A Numismatic History of the Birmingham Mint'', James O. Sweeny, The Birmingham Mint Ltd, 1981, ISBN 0-9507594-0-6〕 ==Cartwheel penny== The common coinage, copper halfpennies, was subject to severe counterfeiting. No copper coinage had been issued by the Royal Mint since 1754 apart from inadequate issues of halfpence and farthings from 1770-75. In order to differentiate his proposed copper coins from counterfeits Boulton specified them as follows:〔 ;twopence:2 ounces weight, diameter 8 to the foot ;penny:1 ounce, diameter 17 to two feet ;half-penny:1/2 ounce, diameter 10 to a foot ;farthing:1/4 ounce, diameter 12 to a foot Their weight in pure copper should be so close to the intrinsic value of the material that counterfeiting would be uneconomic.〔 The diameter was made strictly defined by striking within a collar so that diameter, thickness and weight could be used to prove the quality of the metal.〔 In 1797 the first, and only, copper twopenny and the first penny coins were produced under contract although the smaller denominations did not follow until later.〔''British Coins Market Values'', Link House Magazines Ltd, 1993, ISSN 0-86296-100-9〕 These coins were comparatively large, having a broad raised rim with the inscription pressed below the surface and became known as the ''cartwheel'' pennies. Over 45 million were minted in two years.〔Victor Skipp, ''A History of Greater Birmingham - down to 1830'', 1980. ISBN 0-9506998-0-2〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Soho Mint」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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