400 ton HME coining press
 

Sorry to post this here. I couldn't find a "new thread" button under "buy and sell"

This is a 400 ton knuckle joint press originally used in the San Francisco Mint. I am offering it for $40,000 or best offer. The original cost of these presses were around a quarter million. It works great. For more info, contact me at rlandis2@cox.net.

Re: 400 ton HME coining press
 

what did you use this for>?

Re: 400 ton HME coining press
 

It was used in the San Francisco Mint to strike proof coins and was replaced somewhere around 1998(?). It was then purchased by Kemplar Industries in Chicago who re-furbished it and sold it to Gallery Mint in about 2000.

We used it to strike many of our large size reproductions, and any collar-stuck pieces. The most notable project was when it was shipped back to San Francisco to strike the $50 Kellogg re-strikes from S.S. Central America gold.

Most runs we did were very limited, so it really wasn't used that much since we've owned it. I'm getting out of owning my own mint, and since I'm leasing my other building to a full service mint, I don't see the need to hang on to this press any longer. I can make a good deal to someone just to get it out of the way. It comes complete with a die set for collar striking and some standard sized collars. BTW, our original cost was $85,000.

Re: 400 ton HME coining press
 

you can mint your own coins?

you can mint the 2009 GIM rounds for us?

Re: 400 ton HME coining press
 

Re: 400 ton HME coining press
 

Actually, I CAN get blanks and have the capability of striking 1 oz. rounds. That's what this press does. Heck, I'll even throw in a set of Omega dies with it. Every coiner has a set you know. :yes: NOT!

Re: 400 ton HME coining press
 

This appears to be one of those hydraulic ones where the bottom comes up... right ?

Re: 400 ton HME coining press
 

That is a really cool machine! How many coins can you turn out in an hour with a press like that?

Re: 400 ton HME coining press
 

This is a knuckle joint press which is much quicker than a hydraulic press. The entire top portion strikes downward. It can be set for multiple strikes and then ejects the finished piece out of the collar. You just load the blank, then press both buttons at once to engage it. The plexiglas shield comes down using pneumatics. If there is an obstacle like your hand in the way of the shield, it aborts the striking. Very safe. After striking, the shield comes back up, you pull the finished coin, and re-load. This can all be done in the matter of a couple seconds.

You can easily strike about 30 per minute or more. It's not as fast as an auto-feed system, but you get a lot better quality control in a hand-feed situation because you can check each one as it's loaded and carefully place them on a soft surface after striking instead of just shoving them off into a pile.

Re: 400 ton HME coining press
 

This is a knuckle joint press which is much quicker than a hydraulic press. The entire top portion strikes downward. It can be set for multiple strikes and then ejects the finished piece out of the collar. You just load the blank, then press both buttons at once to engage it. The plexiglas shield comes down using pneumatics. If there is an obstacle like your hand in the way of the shield, it aborts the striking. Very safe. After striking, the shield comes back up, you pull the finished coin, and re-load. This can all be done in the matter of a couple seconds.

You can easily strike about 30 per minute or more. It's not as fast as an auto-feed system, but you get a lot better quality control in a hand-feed situation because you can check each one as it's loaded and carefully place them on a soft surface after striking instead of just shoving them off into a pile.

Re: 400 ton HME coining press
 

I'm not saying you are wrong....so don't take it that way....

Hard to understand how that size machine would cost 250k new....it just does not look big enougn. Sounds like it must be about right if you folks paid 85k for it used.....

We have a cold forging division in my company and we have HME machines.....never realized they were so expensive.....and I've been around a lot of production manufacturing equipment.

That said, low volume production tools do get expensive.

That sure is a cute little press on the floor by the compressor....wish I could see more of it...too dark....looks to have a flywheel.....must be sumer small toneage.

Re: 400 ton HME coining press
 

Ruprick, Yeah, these things aren't cheap. I had a potential buyer for it on the condition he could tool it up with auto-feed. The company in U.K. who had the tooling quoted us $125,000. Of course, it was a deal breaker for my buyer since you can find used presses WITH the auto feed for less than what they were asking for the add-on.

It's not at all small. As coining presses go, it's one of the biggest ones around. It weighs about 8000 pounds and has a striking capacity of 400 tons. The flywheel is HUGE. BTW, That little press in the corner is about a 1/2 ton press I used for cutting small, soft pewter blanks.

Re: 400 ton HME coining press
 

I don't work around equipment like this so my question may be rather stupid, but I've never seen a machine like this, so forgive my curiousity.

I'm assuming after you do your run of one side of the coin, you change the die and then do the back side of the coins? If so, how do you protect the face of the coin from being distorted.

Also, can you do the wafer size 1 oz bars, similar to a Suisse Credit or can you only do rounds?

Re: 400 ton HME coining press
 

Er... I haven't worked around this either, but I believe you use a set of dies to strike both obverse and reverse at the same time.

Re: 400 ton HME coining press
 

Ahhh...that would make sense. Thanks.

So, you only change the dies when you're changing coin designs, coin size or blank shape?

Re: 400 ton HME coining press
 

You can strike bars, octagonals, rounds, or whatever shape and size you like. You just need to make your collars and dies to that size and shape. The die set will accommodate any configuration as long as the outer diameters of the tooling are machined to fit the die set.

And yes, you actually strike all THREE sides at once. A die on top and bottom, and when the metal is squeezed, it grows out to the collar to form the reeded or smooth edge.