Metal stamping is a way to imprint a piece of metal with a particular number, picture, or phrase. It gets used in several places and for several things. One thing that you may not realize is stamped is the coin in your pocket. Coins go through a metal stamping process in order to get the face and the obverse printed on them.   

Coin Making

Every coin that makes its way into your pocket or purse goes through the same process in order to be made. 

Making Blanks

The first step in the process is to make the coin blanks. These blanks are punched out of large coils of metal. The metal coils are usually very wide, and may be slightly thicker than the coin will end, since the coining process can compress the metal somewhat. Each coil is fed into the machine which punches the blanks out. Many blanks are punched out at once, leaving a sheet of metal that has several holes in it. Those leftovers are melted down and reused.  

Washing and Drying

The coin blanks are then washed and dried. That makes sure that any dirt or oil from the punching process or any other part of the procedeing processes is removed. Leaving dirt and oil on the metal can also cause the actual stamp have imperfections. 

Sizing

After the washing and drying process, the blanks are sized. They go through a machine that measures them and rejects any blanks that are too big or too small. One way to do this is to have the blanks go through a machine that has a series of screens. One screen would have holes that are smaller than the coin blanks. Another screen would have holes that are blank sized. That will separate the inappropriately sized blanks. The machine shakes blanks until they go through the right holes. 

Stamping

In between the sizing and stamping, the blanks go through a machine that puts the edge on them. The the blanks go into the coin press. At the press, the blanks go one by one in between two parts of a die. The die stamps down onto each coin blank with an extreme amount of force. When the die separates, the front and back are printed on the coin. Then the finished coin goes through another inspection process to make sure that it was correctly stamped, and then the coin is ready to go into circulation and end up in your pocket. 

Stamping metal can also be used to create things like labels for machines, machine parts, and even circuit boards. For further assistance, contact local professionals, such as those from Hub Manufacturing & Metal Stamping.