World Money Fair Technical Forum Review: Part 3

In the last two issues of Coin & Mint News™, we covered 10 of the presentations made in the first two sessions of the World Money Fair Technical Forum 2023, which took place on 2 February in Berlin and was hosted by Dieter Merkle of Schuler and Thomas Hogenkamp of Spaleck.

In this issue, we conclude the review with four presentations covering surface finishing and inspection, the recovery of e-waste, packaging and commemorative coins.

Coin Blanks Surface Finishing with In-Line Inspection

Rösler Oberflächentechnik and Proditec

The objective of this project, a joint venture between Rösler Oberflächentechnik and Proditec, was to creating a fully automatic finishing line directly linked with in-line quality inspection of blanks.

Rösler is well known for its blank finishing lines with air drying especially for high volume circulation coin, and its expertise made it the logical partner for Proditec, developers of high speed inspection systems. The joint development programme was to make the process more sustainable, ecological and efficient.

Rösler identified the potential to develop a more efficient air-drying system. The existing method was to send in warm, dry air and then blow it out into the air. The objectives identified were to use 60-75% less electricity and CO2, for the total energy consumption in continuous operation to be only approximately 9.5kW/h, a work piece temperature of approx. 30°C, less heat emission at the machine location and for the process to be gentle on the product, free of stains and dust, with a small space requirement, low noise level and requiring minor maintenance effort.

The new air-drying system is based on recirculating the air, which is pumped in, and then sucked out and recirculated; in the unit there is a heat pump compensator which removes the moisture from the air. The air inside the dryer is still warm, 30- 40°C, which means it is not now heated up from room temperature as previously.

The saving is not only in electricity, but also in other materials such as textile overlays etc. The objectives listed above prior to the work were all achieved, most impressive being the savings in electricity. Also, even at high volumes there was little or no damage to the blanks.

The system can be retrofitted to any system on the market.

Proditec now had the challenge to develop an in-line inspection system for this new line which runs at very high volumes and around 4-6 times faster than a normal high speed sorting line.

The request from Rösler was for a simple system which could determine which batches of blanks were high quality and could be used directly for coin production and which batches were of poor quality and would need prior inspection. This was a challenge as 100% of the coins needed inspection at a speed of 250 images per second.

The next challenge was to have one operator who should also use the Vision machine as well. Both were achieved.

Yet another challenge was to be able to adjust the machine, which was achieved with the aid of AI (artificial intelligence).

The final and most difficult challenge was to align all of the coins for inspection. This was achieved by splitting standard machines into two. In all, eight inspection machines were used in a compact arrangement. However, this was considered unsatisfactory as it would require more than one operator. Proditec solved the problem by using its knowledge of its pharmaceutical inspection lines and AI to devise a one line, more efficient system to sort the coins to the requirement.

A Golden Opportunity – Recovering Precious Metals from Electronic Waste

The Royal Mint

Dr Tony Baker, Director of Sustainable Precious Metals at The Royal Mint, described the organisastion’s diversification into e-waste recovery, using its existing knowledge of metals.

The project started with a review regarding the availability of precious metals. This led to the Mint exploring the feasibility of recovering gold and other precious metals from electronic waste. The objectives were to build operational capability with innovative technology, be sustainable in processing and reuse of precious metals, divert material away from landfill and dirty processes and produce 100% of the Mint’s gold products from recycled material within 5 years.

Electronic waste items were chosen because 2 million tonnes are discarded in the UK every year and 38% of this material contains printed circuit boards or that themselves contain precious metals that can be extracted – more per tonne than could be extracted from gold ore!

The chemical process to extract the gold and precious metals was developed in conjunction with a company in Canada. It was further developed in the Mint to the point the development team were satisfied it could be a reliable and repeatable process.

An environmental benefit was that the chemical waste could be recycled and supplied back to the Mint for re-use in the process. Further work was undertaken to evaluate, improve and define the process from start to finish to assess its viability as an industrial process.

At this point, Spaleck was engaged by the Mint to develop a viable production system for the process. A lab sized prototype was developed and proved to be successful in trials. A full-sized production system is currently being built.

The presentation concluded with a detailed description of what will be the commercial venture, employing some 30 people. It is due to go live in August this year.

Packaging – a New Coin Roll Cartoning Machine

Velec

David Carton, Sales Director of Velec, presented the company’s new 3-in-1 coin rolls cartoning machine, which he described as the most flexible and user-friendly system of its type ever produced. For customers, it is simple and easy to operate.

It collects coin rolls from a coin roll wrapping machine, layers them, places them in previously opened boxes, and then seals the boxes. It has the capability of handling a wide variety of coin sizes. The capacity is 200 coin rolls a minute and 10 cartons a minute. It can accept coin roll diameters of 15-35mm, roll lengths of 40-120mm, and can accommodate cartons with dimensions of length 100- 300mm, width 90-300mm and height 75-140mm.

The machine has numerous improvements. First is what the company claims is the most user-friendly interface ever developed, real time KPI and exportable OEE, MTBF, MTTB, and a default root cause tracking and locator. The machine is also PackML (CMAC) ready, has a breakage prevent system and remote- control capability.

The machine operator is also able to operate the machine from a single point, and a product changeover takes only five minutes. The machine also has a smart and connected adjustment crank.

Multi Dimensions of Coins

Royal Canadian Mint

Dr Xianyao Li, in contrast to the other presenters whom he noted all gave technically based presentations, started by saying that his would be about coins.

His first slide gave an indication of where his presentation might be going. Coins, he said, should tell a story and indicated that extraordinary coins, in this case ones with significant depth, were better at this than the more common low relief coins.

He went on to question whether we are being sufficiently innovative in our coin designs. What could be achieved by pushing back the frontiers of design and technology?

He illustrated this point by comparing the $2 Canadian circulating coin with one where the polar bear was in a 3-dimensional situation as the background had been removed. Which was the more attractive coin? He made his point (not that he was suggesting this style of coin should circulate).

This theme of very innovative, multi-dimensional coin designs prevailed throughout the rest of his presentation. Innovative, yes but one could ask – when is a coin not a coin? Whatever the answer, there is no denying the creativity of the designers in the Royal Canadian Mint.

We highly recommend that you take the time to view this innovative presentation as we cannot do justice to it here – seeing is believing!

This year's presentations can be watched at https://vimeo.com/799774457/7e8c961cd8.