Richard Pilcher
of the Royal Mint, London
1851 He improved the automatic coin balances at the Royal Mint which had been introduced by William Cotton in 1843[1]
Pilcher's Filing Machine at the Royal Mint
Pilcher introduced a small machine which reduced the diameter of slightly oversize coin blanks which exceeded the specified weight limit. A round file, or burr, revolved at 1000 rpm to act on the edges of a stack of coins in the machine. George Frederick Ansell described and illustrated Pilcher's Filing Machine in 1871[2]
From Hansard, 1871: Motion For A Select Committee, by Lord Kinnaird[3] :-
'Mr. Napier also suggests a machine for reducing the weight of heavy blanks, and supports his suggestion by saying that other Mints think the expense of employing from 200 to 300 men is warranted by the saving they effect in reducing the blanks. He proposes to have a machine which will file and weigh at the same time; but practical men who have no machine to sell say this kind of machine will not answer in every-day work, but that each operation should be performed by a separate machine, or, if one is out of order, both operations are stopped. It is true, machinery would be very useful for this purpose; but some time ago a Vote was obtained, during Mr. Graham's time, for this identical machine, although the money was never devoted to the purpose, and the reason will be found in a letter written by Mr. Graham on the 7th of June, 1860, in which he says—
' "I may be allowed to call to your recollection that a Parliamentary grant of £1,100 was obtained by the Mint in 1856 for the purchase of two automaton filing and adjusting machines, which it was proposed to have constructed by Messrs. D. Napier and Sons, the eminent engineers. No part of this grant has been appropriated."
'Why not? Because he says—
'"A machine of a much more simple character was contrived by Mr. R. Pilcher, of the weighing room, and was constructed in the Mint with no assistance from without. Pilcher's adjusting machine has proved sufficiently effective, costs nothing for labour, and has now been in constant operation for two years. The cost of making a pair of machines such as we now possess is estimated at £60, a sum which was saved to the public by the mode in which the work was executed.""
'The machine, therefore, seems to be not only simple and effective, but cheap; unfortunately, however, it was destroyed by Mr. Graham's brother in a drunken fit, and now there is no such machine at work.'
Ansell's comments on Pilcher's Filing Machine [4]
'.....I should be content to see Mr. Napier’s machine tried, although I think its failure would be established; but it so happens that I can quote the opinion of the late Master of the Mint on the machine under consideration, expressed at a period when the efficiently economical conduct of the Royal Mint had received his utmost consideration. In his letter to the Treasury, dated 7th June, 1860, he says:—
"I may he allowed to call to your recollection that a Parliamentary grant of £1,100 was obtained by the Mint in 1856 for the purchase of two automaton filing and adjusting machines, which it was proposed to have constructed by Messrs. R. Napier and Sons, the eminent engineers. No part of this grant has been appropriated. The rapid amendment in the blanks which took place immediately afterwards led me to suspend the order for these machines, and ultimately to abandon the idea of any great expenditure for the object contemplated. In the meantime also, a machine of a much more simple character was contrived by Mr. R. Pilcher, of the weighing-room, and was constructed in the Mint, with no assistance from without. Pilcher’s adjusting machine has proved sufficiently effective, costs nothing for labour, and has now been in constant operation for two years. The cost of making a pair of machines such as we now possess is estimated at £60, a sum which was saved to the public by the mode in which the wmrk was executed. Trusting that the Lords Commissioners of her Majesty’s Treasury will be disposed to consider favourably the merit and practical value of such an invention, I venture to solicit their Lordship’s sanction to the application of £60, the sum just stated, to the benefit of the inventor, jointly with an ingenious mechanic on the establishment, who gave material assistance in the construction of the machine. I would propose the following awards, if agreeable to their Lordships :—To Mr. R. Pilcher, £40; to Meredith Jones, £20.”
'It was upon advice tendered by myself that Mr. Graham thus excluded the machine now recommended by Mr. Napier. I maintain that a simple machine should be preferred before a complicated one, and the Mint authorities should give Mr. Pilcher’s £60 machines — admittedly perfect in operation— a fair trial against Mr. Napier’s £1,100 machines, and see if they prove equally effective. If, on the other hand, Mr. Napier’s fails, then it is but fair to the public that that machine which is undoubtedly a success, and for which the inventor has been publicly rewarded, although in a most inadequate manner, should be used.
The machine thus spoken of was used with the utmost advantage until 1866, when its use was abolished by the advice of Mr. John Graham, who subsequently, in 1868, broke it to pieces that his improvements might be rendered permanent, thus causing an expense of 50 per cent, on the total cost of manufacture for rejected coins, because the use of the file having been abolished. ....'