Boulton struck over 100 tons of copper for the East
India Co., and, adding to his presses yearly, soon
had plenty of orders, including copper for the American
Colonies, silver for Sierra Leone, and a beautiful
set for the French Republic. To enumerate all
the various coins, medals, and tokens issued from
Soho would take too much space, but we may say that
he brought the art of coining to a perfection very
little surpassed even in the present day. In 1789
he made for the Privy Council a model penny, halfpenny,
and farthing, but red-tapeism delayed the order until
1797, when he began coining for the Government twopennies
(only for one year), pennies, halfpennies and farthings,
continuing to do so until 1806, by which time he had
sent out not less than 4,200 tons weight. In
this coinage of 1797 the penny was made of the exact
weight of 1 oz., the other coins being in proportion.
In 1799, eighteen pennies were struck out of the pound
of metal, but the people thought they were counterfeit,
and would not take them until a proclamation ordering
their circulation, was issued December 9th. They
became used to a deprecation of currency after that,
and there was but very little grumbling in 1805, when
Boulton was ordered to divide the pound of copper
into 24 pennies. The machinery of Boulton’s
mint, with the collection of dies, pattern coins,
tokens, and medals, were sold by auction in 1850.
The collection should have numbered 119 different
pieces, but there was not a complete set for sale.
The mint, however, could not be called extinct, as
Messrs. Watt and Co. (successors to Bolton and Watt),
who had removed to Smethwick in 1848, struck over
3,300 tons of copper and bronze coin between 1860 and
1866, mostly for Foreign countries. The first
English copper penny (1797) was struck in Birmingham,
and so was the last. Messrs. Ralph Heaton and
Son (the mint, Warstone Line) receiving the contract
in April, 1853. for 500 tons of copper coin, comprising
pence, half-pence, farthings, half-farthings, and
quarter-farthings. The present bronze coinage
came into use December 1st, 1860, and Messrs. Heaton
have had several contracts therefor since then.
This firm has acquired a reputation quite equal to
the Soho Mint, and hive supplied the coins—silver,
copper, and bronze—for Belgium, Canada,
China, Chili, Denmark, Germany, Hayti, India, Republic
of Columbia, Sarawak, Sweden, Tunis, Turkey, Tuscany,
Venezuela, and other Principalities and States, including
hundreds of tons of silver blanks for our own Government
and others, sending workmen and machinery to the countries
where it was preferred to have the coins struck at
home. Boulton, in his day, supplied the presses
and machinery for the Mint on Tower Hill (and they
are still in use), as well as for the Danish, Spanish,
and Russian authorities. Mexico, Calcutta, Bombay,
&c. Messrs. Heaton, and the modern Soho firm,
also dealing in such articles. Foremost among
modern local medallists, is Mr. Joseph Moore, of Pitsford
Street, whose cabinet of specimens is most extensive.
An effort is being made to gather for the new Museum
and Art Gallery a collection of all coins, medals,
and tokens struck in Birmingham, and if it can be
perfected it will necessarily be a very valuable one.


