WEBVTT - The Tech of Making Money 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:08.959 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:18.040 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot Com. Hello again, everyone, 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:20.360 and welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Polette, 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:22.239 and I am an editor here at how stuff works 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:25.160 dot Com, sitting across from me as usual as senior 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:31.320 writer Jonathan Strickland. Greed is good. Okay, then that's a 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:34.879 Wall Street reference, the sequel of which will be coming 0:00:34.920 --> 0:00:38.040 out in theater soon. Wow. Really, yeah, there's a single 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:43.280 to Wall Street. Yeah. Yeah, it's got Shia La Booth 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:47.120 in it. Anyway, So that the reason I said greed 0:00:47.159 --> 0:00:49.879 is good is because we're going to talk about currency. Yes, 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:53.120 we are the tech of making money. Yes, what it 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:57.000 requires to get that cash in your hot little hands. 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:00.320 But before we get into that, I thought talk a 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:03.080 little bit about the history of currency. This is kind 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:05.840 of a stuff you missed in History class mini section. 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:09.720 What we should do is get Liz to play the 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:12.720 first few notes of the stuff you missed in History 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:22.760 class theme. So we'll wait. Hi, this is Jonathan, not 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:28.160 Katie or Sarah. I am not nearly as as articulate 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:31.000 or pretty as either of them, and I have far 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:34.200 less hair on my head. So we want to talk 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:38.480 about the history of currency. So the first coins. Okay, 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:41.160 back back before there were coins, you know, essentially everything 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:46.000 was based upon bartering, right, and then there was salt. Yeah, 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:50.000 well again that's also a kind of currency. But but 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.960 before coins, yeah, there were some things that would represent 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:57.640 wealth and could be used in the currency. Cocoa beans 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:00.360 also were used as currency at one point to help 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:03.280 balance out trade systems. But really, you know, you got 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:06.400 to this point where it just became really difficult to 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:12.320 trade stuff for other stuff, right, So that's when people 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:14.640 started coming up with this idea of currency. It's something 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:18.919 that represents the purchasing power so that you can get 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:21.280 hold of something else. That person can then use that 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:24.440 same currency to go and purchase stuff that they need. 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:29.840 Brilliant system because it's way more portable than carrying a 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:31.720 cow and three chickens with you whenever you want to 0:02:31.760 --> 0:02:36.400 go and buy some wheat and I'll ferguson you're not, yeah, 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:42.680 fight me. So anyway, let's let's go back to Lydia. Lydia, 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:47.560 that Encyclopedia Lydia, which was it's a an empire that 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:51.440 was well, where modern day Turkey is now, there was 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:55.280 a Lydian king who decided to start making coins. Do 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:58.000 you know this guy's name? Yes, you do, you just 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:01.680 don't know who it is. It's Creases, Oh yes, Cress. Yes, 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:04.800 to be rich as Creases. Well, the reason we say 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:07.639 rich as Creases is because Crisis is the guy who 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:10.359 came up with this idea of stamping coins with a 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:13.760 imperial emblem on them. They weren't known as Cress pieces, 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:17.440 were they. Oh you know what, folks, if you could 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:19.799 have seen his face leading up to that, I could 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:24.160 tell that he had something and I almost wish I 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:28.160 had not paused for breath. Uh So, yeah, Crisis came 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:30.520 up with this idea of of stamping metal ingots to 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:35.520 create coins. This is around six b C. So that's 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:37.520 kind of where the idea came from. Now the idea 0:03:37.600 --> 0:03:40.880 for a currency as in paper notes that came later later, 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:44.080 Um yeah, because I mean, who the heck trust paper? Right? Chinese? 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:46.560 Did the Chinese came up with the idea for paper 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:50.160 notes well before anyone else. Did you bring up a 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:54.120 good point? Please? Trust? Trust is very important. Yes, it's 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:57.280 all about trust. Currency is based upon trust uh. In 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:00.360 the United States until ninety one. That trust is that 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:03.400 the piece of paper or the coin that you held 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:08.680 represented a certain amount of gold, right, and that in theory, 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:12.080 you could go to the US government and exchange your 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:16.560 currency for the equivalent value of equivalent amount of gold 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:18.080 that would be the same as the value of the 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:20.680 currency you were handing over. Right, So you're you're giving 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:23.480 them a piece of paper with Benjamin Franklin's picture on it, 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:26.840 and we're going to give you gold in return, dollars 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:30.280 worth of gold exactly, since it's a Franklin, because it's 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:33.760 all about the Benjamin's baby. But in ninety one, the 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:38.000 US decided to abandon the gold standard. It really wasn't practical, 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:41.680 I mean there was. They reached a point where if 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:43.960 everyone turned in their currency, there would not be enough 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:47.440 gold to support that. They just there's none of gold 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:51.000 in the reserves to support the currency. So now um 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:53.680 currency is kind of the trust is based upon a 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:59.840 group hallucination that the money is actually worth something much better. Now, 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:02.760 speaking to our producer Tyler, and we came to the 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:07.400 conclusion that our our trust in the system of money 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:10.160 is equivalent to Wiley coyote running off the edge of 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:13.920 the cliff before he's noticed that there's nothing under him. 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:16.240 You know, he never studied law, right, So if we 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:20.560 ever notice that money is not really based on anything, 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:22.280 they'll be panic and we'll all not be able to 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:25.159 buy anything. So just let's continue the group hallucination, please, 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:30.640 because I got bills to pay, y'all. And uh, but so, 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:34.360 really money is just representing buying power, how much buying 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:36.600 power you have? And we want to talk about the 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:39.359 tech of making money, and before we get into the 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:41.760 actual tech of it, one other thing I wanted to 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:45.159 point out is that you can't solve money problems just 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:48.320 by printing more currency. Nope, that's not how it works. 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:51.400 It can just doing that. First of all, you have 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:54.640 to find a way of getting currency into circulation, So 0:05:54.720 --> 0:05:56.479 you can't you can't just print money. I mean, what 0:05:56.520 --> 0:05:58.559 are you gonna do Give it out to people for free. 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:02.400 That doesn't work either, because that causes inflation because now 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:05.080 money has been devalued, it's not worth what it what 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:06.960 used to be worth, and so now you have to 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:08.760 have more money to buy the same things that you 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:13.000 needed before. Um, the way that wealth is generated, the 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:18.120 way money is actually created is through loans. This is 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:20.560 getting really technical, but when you take out a loan, 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:24.280 you're charged interest, which means ultimately you're paying back more 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:26.800 money than what you got in the first place. Yes, 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:30.560 that's what's generating the money that that is coming out 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:32.320 of the you know what. We you can print as 0:06:32.400 --> 0:06:34.240 much money as you want to get into circulation, you 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:37.839 have to have the loan system there. Yeah, also was 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:41.600 not very big in the Bible. But uh, at any rate, 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:45.440 let's get into the tech of making money, and we 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:47.880 want I wanted to start with coins. Yeah, some of 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:50.200 the some of the tech that they used to make 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:53.560 money is actually very very old. Yeah, some of it. 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:57.040 Some of it has been around for centuries and it 0:06:57.120 --> 0:07:01.000 requires a level of artistry that is phenomenal. No, I know. 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:02.920 And and this is one of those things that any 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:06.200 time it comes on one of our the channels that 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:10.640 make up our parent company, one of the Discovery channels, 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:13.160 and there's I've seen a couple of specials on how 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:15.560 they how they make money and how they make the 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:19.640 stuff behind money as in the paper and all the 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:25.520 the things that become money. Just fascinating the metal stuff. Yeah, 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.280 if we're going with coins, we're gonna stick mainly to 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:30.680 the United States, I think, mostly because I mean that's 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:32.920 where we live, so it's the information that's easiest for 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:37.120 us to access. But really most of these processes are 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:39.720 similar throughout the world. They may not be using exactly 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:41.960 the same kinds of machines, but they're using a very 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:47.680 similar process. So to to make a coin, uh, it's 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:52.800 a fairly complex process. The first thing you're gonna need, um, well, 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:54.680 there's two two main things you're gonna need. You're gonna 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:58.600 need a die actually a pair of die um, not 0:07:58.680 --> 0:08:01.480 like dice like excited. It's not that gonna die. It's 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:04.680 gonna say, come on, big seven, kind of like a stamp. Yes, okay, 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:09.400 you're gonna need a really really high quality stamp, and 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:14.520 you're gonna need metal. Uh So with designing the stamp, 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:17.400 I guess we can start with that because that's really 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:21.080 the basis of all the coins that we create. There's 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:24.920 a lot of newer tech involved in creating the stamp 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:30.040 these days because uh in in uh in earlier times 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:32.079 you would have to have the designer actually do this 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:35.440 by by hand, make the design by hand first, and 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:39.040 computers can be used to do that. Although not always yeah, uh, 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:42.400 in general, if you're doing it the old way, let's 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:46.120 say you get in the old way being not that old, 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:48.240 just so you know, because I mean the old old 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:50.559 way is that you would develop a stamp and you 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:52.920 would use a hammer and hand volt to create these things. 0:08:53.000 --> 0:08:56.720 But that's getting a little too old. The modern era 0:08:56.800 --> 0:08:59.720 of making currency, you have an engraver who designs the 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:05.440 coin two very specific standards, you know. So this is 0:09:05.520 --> 0:09:07.880 the engraver has to design the coin, and the design 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:12.480 has to be approved before anything else can happen. Uh. 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:15.760 And then, assuming that you're using the old method where 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:19.880 you're you're not digitally modeling stuff, the engraver would use 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:23.800 clay or some other modeling material to build the first 0:09:24.200 --> 0:09:26.160 model of the coin, which is going to be much 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:32.679 larger than the the eventual actual coin will be from 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:36.280 that mold from that model. Rather, you create a mold 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:41.760 using something like plastoline, and then you pour plaster of 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:44.719 Paris into that. And this is a well plaster. The 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:46.440 reason we use plaster of Paris is because they can 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:50.440 pick up details, really fine details and represent them accurately. 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:54.679 So now you've got a plaster model of the coin 0:09:54.920 --> 0:09:58.880 um and then from that you have a machine that 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:02.720 creates a copper mole of it called a galvano. Yeah, 0:10:02.840 --> 0:10:06.040 I didn't have that, uh. And then you make an 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:08.800 even smaller model of it. It's called a hub, and 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:11.440 this is made out of steel. And then you the 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:15.640 master hub is called the dye. Uh, so that you 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:19.800 have a steel dye that looks exactly the way your 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:22.360 coin is gonna look, but kind of in reverse because 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:25.800 it's a stamp. And you have to have two of those, 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:26.960 because you have to have one for the front and 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:30.839 one for the back. And and so that's that's how 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:34.920 you create your your stamp. There's actually even more involved 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:37.360 in that. I mean, there's this whole polishing section that 0:10:37.400 --> 0:10:40.240 has to has to go through. By the time that 0:10:40.280 --> 0:10:42.800 the steel die is ready to be used, it has 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:45.800 a mirror like finish because it's been polished so finely. 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:49.760 M all right, So that's your stamping stuff. Now you're 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:52.800 gonna have something to stamp right now. In in the 0:10:52.880 --> 0:10:57.880 United States, it's a mixture of copper and nickel mainly, 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:01.800 although you also have zinc plated upper you have um 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:04.439 or or copper plated zinc rather or not the other 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:06.840 way around. But why would you have zinc plated copper. 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:10.240 That would be unusual. And we haven't always used the 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:14.040 exact same medals throughout or end alloys. Throughout the history 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:18.400 of currency. You can find some interesting, uh facts about 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:20.880 the various medals they've been used. And in most cases 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:22.880 it tends to be something like war broke out and 0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:24.800 suddenly we didn't have access to all the medals that 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:28.079 we used to use for coins. As a matter of fact, Um, 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:30.840 my father, who was in World War two, UM has 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:34.480 a box of steel pennies because during World War Two 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:38.000 they used steel to make pennies instead of copper for 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:41.440 reasons of the war effort. And uh so I have 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:43.400 a whole bunch of those and they're worth you know, 0:11:43.480 --> 0:11:47.720 about a penny nice well to the government. They are 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:51.120 they are worth exactly what they're worth. So, um, you 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:54.360 could have a collectible coin, who would which would be 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:56.679 worth a lot of money to a collector can take 0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:59.120 it to the government. It's worth exactly, you know. It's 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:01.640 just like it's a stamps are right, stamps are worth 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:04.480 you know, if you put a very very rare you say, 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:08.880 you put an inverted jenny an envelope, it's worth exactly 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:12.199 to the post office. You know, postage. You'd still have 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:15.400 to add postage to it. You might be able to 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:17.960 sell it to a collector for thousands of dollars, but 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:21.800 the government's gonna take it at face value. Yes, exactly. 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:24.400 And that's again that goes back to our trusting anyway. 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:27.360 Um so yeah, alright, so steel pennies. Yeah, so let's 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:30.160 talk about the metal. You get these, You get melt 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:32.640 big bars of metal, You melt them down in a furnace, 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:36.319 You pour them into uh inget forms, and then you 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:40.160 can get and you cool that down, use water by 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:43.120 the way to cool it. Uh and then it actually 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:45.880 uses a couple of different cooling systems. And then you 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:48.120 take that to a rolling mill which is gonna turn 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:54.800 it into flat sheets. Okay, now, um, the US meant 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:57.920 pretty much gets these these flat sheets and coils. Yes, 0:12:58.520 --> 0:13:01.400 they feed the coil. Coils are let's see, I've actually 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:07.720 got the stats here. A foot wide, feet long, abound 0:13:07.720 --> 0:13:11.160 as thick as the final coin tends to be, and 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:15.680 it weighs about six thousand pounds. Yes, yes, actually there 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:18.240 there are some great photos of this, along with a 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:20.400 lot more detail than we'll probably get into in the 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:24.280 podcast at us MINT dot gov. Yes, some details and 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:26.200 the photos or you know, because you can see these 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:30.680 huge coils of metal, which are pretty awesome. It's pretty 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:33.600 intimidating really because you think, wow, that's that's a lot 0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:39.079 of metal. Um. Now, these strips, these coils get fed 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:43.360 through a machine called a blanking press or the blanking presser. Essentially, 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:46.360 what that does is it cuts the metal sheets into 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:50.880 the coin shape. Um. Yes, actually cuts them into slightly 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:54.080 the slightly larger diameter than the way the coin will 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:58.280 eventually appear, because it has to create a little extra 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:02.440 metal on the edges to create a HM. So you 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:06.400 put it through the blanker, the blanking pressor get and 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:11.079 you get the blanks. That's what the unmarked flat discs 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:14.920 of metal are called. You get the blanks. You then 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:18.079 have to soften them, yes, which you do by putting 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:22.120 them into a furnace. You the furnaces about seven degrees 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:25.400 celsius or so this softens them a little bit. Then 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:28.560 you have to cool them and clean them. Uh. And 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:34.160 it's it's it's a process that actually uses various chemicals 0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:36.440 to clean them. You're not just you know, putting them 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:39.600 through a washing machine. Although it's in a machine that 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:44.480 does look like washing machine. It does spin them. Um. Yeah, 0:14:45.200 --> 0:14:48.720 although that's not necessarily true for for everything, because the 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:53.840 golden dollars slightly different process in which they use steel 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:56.960 shot to the kind of like bees. Yeah, a little 0:14:57.000 --> 0:14:58.760 bit like bebes. You put it in there in that way. 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:03.200 It polishes them through brute force. Yeah. So yeah, the 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:06.640 the spinny thing. Did you happen to see what that's 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:10.080 called spinning? Well, did you see what it's called? Um, 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:15.360 it's the whirl away. So sp thing is not that 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:19.600 big a leap from the technical term of the world away. 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:21.640 That's true. Actually, it sounds like something you did to 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:24.720 see at the local carnival at your shopping mall. It 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:26.640 sets up and you're going, I'm not sure I want 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:30.880 to find that thing. Yeah, and and yeah exactly. We'll 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:34.640 polish away your impurities and will also take your money. 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:38.840 So you then, uh, once once you've cleaned and dried 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:43.520 the coins. Um, they moved to a thing called the 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:47.120 upsetting mill. Yes, it's very upsetting. I was going to say, 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:50.640 I'm sure they feel terrible after that. Right, So this 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:53.240 is the thing that creates the rim around the edge 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:58.680 of the coin and Uh. So once the upsetting mill 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:02.120 is done, the coins should be the right diameter. It 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:04.440 should be the same size that's going to be once 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:08.160 it's stamped. Um and uh. And it's done for a 0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:12.080 very important reason. It helps and you know, by raising 0:16:12.120 --> 0:16:14.680 the rim it helps them stack the coins a little 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:16.240 bit better. You'll notice it the you know, it's got 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:18.840 sort of a firm edge around. It also helps keep 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:21.160 the coins from a routing. And that's because that's one 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:23.440 of the benefits of using coins. One of the reasons 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:27.120 the United States government is pushing the golden dollars so 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:30.480 much is they last a whole lot longer than paper money. Yeah, 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:33.640 you don't have to keep making as much. Yes you can. 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:36.400 You know, you can make it as as circulation requires. 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:39.560 But um, you don't have to worry about you know, 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:42.160 the useful life of a dollar might be a decade, 0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:45.560 but the useful life of a coin is could be 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:47.720 really a long time. Actually, I don't think paper money. 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:51.240 I just I just used that as I just pulled 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:53.560 that out of nowhere that somebody would write in and say, 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:57.680 now someone has the podcast already and they have written 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:01.200 in and to you, sir or madam, I would like 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:03.080 to say, please listen to the show all the way 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:06.920 through before you write us, because sometimes we correct ourselves. 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:10.800 Not often, I will grant you, but sometimes so. At 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:15.000 any rate, the next stage is where they might have 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:19.560 to to um, well, I guess the coining is the 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:21.199 next stage to bring on whether or not you need 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:25.879 to put ridges on the edge. The reads, the reads, Yes, yes, reading, 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:31.040 reading is fundamentals, especially if you need to. But yes, 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:33.520 it's R E, D, I N G. Right, and then 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:35.640 it would be coining. So I'm glad that you brought 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:39.760 that up because I almost totally forgot. And this is 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:44.439 where we add the actual design of the coin to 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:47.840 the blank which now, by the way, it's no longer 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:50.880 called a blank. Yes, once you've added the rim, it's 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:53.919 become a new thing called the plan chet. Yes, no 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:59.080 relation to Kate. Yeah, thanks plan chet as in poppies 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:03.480 and um will make you sleep. Yes. So once you 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:05.399 get to the coining, this is where those die that 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:08.400 we talked about the come in and you've got They 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:12.359 usually refer to the die in two different terms, very simple. 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:17.480 You got the the anvil and the hammer. The anvil 0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:20.399 is going to remain stationary. The hammer is going to 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:24.360 strike the coin which is resting on the anvil, and 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:28.560 the force of the impact is going to stamp that 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:33.000 design on the planet and make it a coin. And 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:36.680 uh yeah, it resembles a hammer and an anvil and 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:40.600 function more so than form, because I mean, you wouldn't 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:43.679 recognize it as a hammer and an anvil in the 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:47.000 you know, looney tune sense of something dropping on your head. 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:49.280 Although I wouldn't want either one of those to drop 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:51.440 on my head. I also would not want those to 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:54.399 drop on your head. But um yeah, after after they 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:57.000 become coins, of course they are. They go to a 0:18:57.000 --> 0:18:59.080 bin where they are inspected. Somebody takes a look at them, 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:01.520 make sure it makes sure that they are okay, and 0:19:01.560 --> 0:19:05.680 I mean anything that that's not acceptable goes back for recycling, 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:07.640 as is the webbing for when they wake from when 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.119 they make the blanks. The metal that goes that that 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:13.439 they can't use, it's around it that gets recycled as well. Right, 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:16.679 All the webbing is the excess metal after the stamping process, 0:19:16.800 --> 0:19:18.840 because of course, if you stamp a bunch of circular 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:21.639 things out of a sheet of metal, you're gonna be 0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:24.040 left with excess pieces. Yeah, and quite a bit of 0:19:24.080 --> 0:19:27.560 metal so that all gets melted down and recycled, as 0:19:27.640 --> 0:19:33.679 do any irregular coins. Um. They actually the the first 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:36.199 irregular coins. Before you melt them down, they have to 0:19:36.200 --> 0:19:39.920 be destroyed or they have to be uh marred, so 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:43.480 that it's clear that they are not valid currency. To 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:46.800 do so, they put them in special machines called wafflers. 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:55.119 I love the technology jargon of making currency wafflers. Man, 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:58.600 it sounds like a county fair. I know, it's a 0:19:58.600 --> 0:20:02.160 county fair where all the prize is our money. Sign 0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:05.280 me up. Um so yeah, these uh, these actually use 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:10.199 high pressure rollers to kind of put a predetermined pattern, 0:20:10.240 --> 0:20:13.160 a ridged pattern across the coin that automatically marks them 0:20:13.160 --> 0:20:19.000 as being not viable. And then they get sent to 0:20:19.040 --> 0:20:24.600 the recycling furnace and then uh, the the coins that 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:28.679 are actually acceptable they fall into a box called a trap. 0:20:28.880 --> 0:20:31.520 Now this part I don't like. I don't want to 0:20:31.680 --> 0:20:34.640 fall into a trap at my world Away waffler fair. 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:38.600 I'm just waiting for you to do it, to fall 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:45.320 into a trap. Back, bar intoe, it's a trap. Nothing 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:48.879 could penetrate the shields. Um. That was terrible. That was 0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:51.760 like the world's worst admiral. Acbar accent. Please don't write me. 0:20:52.240 --> 0:20:55.159 Remember what I said about pausing the podcast. Um, I 0:20:55.200 --> 0:20:57.000 have a quick thing of trivia before we move on 0:20:57.040 --> 0:21:02.359 to currency, to paper paper money. Do you know why, 0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:08.320 out of all the coins in that erin United States circulation, 0:21:08.359 --> 0:21:10.600 why the penny and nicol are the only ones to 0:21:10.720 --> 0:21:15.200 have images that don't face to the left. No, why, Chucks, 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:19.560 I was gonna hoping you knew that's gonna make this weird. No, okay, Um, 0:21:19.600 --> 0:21:21.240 So there are a lot of different theories, you know. 0:21:21.400 --> 0:21:24.919 So the penny, of course has a Lincoln there, and 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:29.560 the nicol has a Jefferson. Yes, Um, has nothing to 0:21:29.560 --> 0:21:32.960 do with who they are beyond a very simple point. 0:21:33.320 --> 0:21:37.239 So Abraham Lincoln penny was meanted back in and it 0:21:37.320 --> 0:21:40.200 was to commemorate the hundred year anniversary of Lincoln's birth 0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:45.240 UH and Theodore Roosevelt, who was president at the time, 0:21:45.800 --> 0:21:50.239 chose a sculptor named Victor David Brenner to design the penny. Now, 0:21:50.280 --> 0:21:54.879 Brenner had created a bust of a plaque really not 0:21:54.920 --> 0:21:58.080 a bust, but a plaque of of Lincoln that had 0:21:58.160 --> 0:22:01.320 him facing to the UH, to the right. It was 0:22:01.320 --> 0:22:03.879 based off a photo of Lincoln where Lincoln was facing 0:22:03.880 --> 0:22:08.119 to the right. That's the reason why the penny Lincoln 0:22:08.160 --> 0:22:11.359 faces to the right. It's not there's no conspiracy or 0:22:11.440 --> 0:22:15.040 weird philosophical thing about it. It's because the photo that 0:22:15.160 --> 0:22:17.560 was used to create a plaque that was in turn 0:22:17.720 --> 0:22:21.320 used to create the portrait in the penny, Lincoln was 0:22:21.359 --> 0:22:25.320 facing to the right. All right, Now, Jefferson is a 0:22:25.320 --> 0:22:27.600 little weird. He started facing out on the left. Ba 0:22:29.600 --> 0:22:32.879 uh two thousand three, decided to look around, he did, No, 0:22:33.080 --> 0:22:35.560 he didn't. He was in no position at that point. 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:38.720 But the President had enacted a law to revise the nickel. 0:22:39.320 --> 0:22:43.040 And this was to commemorate the by centennary, by centenary 0:22:43.080 --> 0:22:47.040 of Lewis and Clark. Oh, which makes part perfect sense, right, 0:22:47.560 --> 0:22:51.960 If you're gonna celebrate Lewis and Clark, why not changed 0:22:52.000 --> 0:22:54.440 the nickel. Oh you know, he was the guy who 0:22:54.440 --> 0:22:58.080 sent them out there. Yeah. Yeah, So the US meant 0:22:59.119 --> 0:23:02.040 decided to make a series of nickels. Yes, so it's 0:23:02.080 --> 0:23:06.720 not just one. So two thousand four series Jefferson was 0:23:06.760 --> 0:23:09.720 facing to the left, right, and the reverse of the 0:23:09.800 --> 0:23:12.960 nickel was changed. On two thousand five, Jefferson's facing to 0:23:13.000 --> 0:23:16.919 the right. The word liberty is uh engrave next to 0:23:16.960 --> 0:23:20.399 him is based off of Jefferson's handwriting and two thousand 0:23:20.480 --> 0:23:24.439 six he's facing forward and it's based off a portrait 0:23:24.480 --> 0:23:29.399