Screw press coinage and rolling mill
Prensa de acuñar de balancín y laminadora de metales
- Date
- c. 1550-1553 · confidence medium
- Place
- Augsburg, Germany / Paris (Moulin des Étuves, 1551)
- Credited to
- Max Schwab (Augsburg); Henry II of France; Leonardo (rolling mill, drawings)
- People
- 👤 Enrique II de Francia1519–1559
- Field
- Tools
What it is
A screw press with weighted arms that struck uniform coins from blanks rolled and cut by machine, replacing hammer striking. It produced regular coinage that was difficult to clip or counterfeit.
The Royal Mint of Segovia (1586), with hydraulic rolling mills from Hall (Tyrol), was the most advanced mint of its time.
What it led to
- Standardised coinage and monetary confidence (Segovia Mint 1586, London 1662)
- Metal rolling for industry and art
- Guild resistance from moneyers to mechanisation
Built on
Made possible
- Mechanised Segovia mint (hydraulic mill)
- Boulton's coining press (steam, 1788)
- Industrial rolling mill