PAL assists Euro coin production

摘要

The new Euro currency went into circulation on 1 January 2002, with coins and notes in use in the majority of EU member countries. Process Automation International Ltd (PAL) has helped in the production process with their enclosed barrel line, supplied to Surface Treatment BV, Maasbracht, The Netherlands, which has already plated a staggering 1 500 000 000 coins (of three types, but mostly 5 cent Euro coins) for the Dutch and Italian mints. The total weight of coinage produce so far is more than 3 500 000 kg. The line continues to work 24 h a day, seven days a week to ensure there will be plenty of coins to meet needs within both countries.The fully enclosed part of the line is 40 m long and has 26 tanks. With six plating stages of copper, the machine cycle time is about 40 min, allowing around 4 h copper plating time. From the moment 500 kg of steel blanks are loaded into the hopper, the whole process is fully automated.