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Soho Mint
Soho Mint was created by Matthew Boulton in 1788http://www.sohomint.info/mantimeline.html in his Soho Manufactory ( ) in Handsworth, West Midlands, England. A mint was erected at the manufactory containing eight machines, 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 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 0-9507594-0-6Cartwheel penny
The common coinage, copper halfpennies, was subject to severe counterfeiting. In order to differentiate his proposed copper coins from counterfeits he 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 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.A History of Greater Birmingham - down to 1830, Victor Skipp, 1980, ISBN 0-9506998-0-2See also
- British halfpenny coin regarding counterfeit coinage
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