Working Hard to Hardly Working

The sweat was streaming down my face. My hands were shaking, this was the first time I ever used one of these. My tense eyes scanned over the screw-press, trying not to imagine what would happen if my hands were crushed underneath the heavy screw. I took a seat in front of the press; tense but ready to work. Two muscular men stood beside the press; hopefully experienced. I took a planchet and slid it underneath the screw. I watched steadily as the two other men tugged on a wore out leather strap, attached to a rusty iron bar. The bar was attached to a heavy iron screw which screeched when it drove into the upper die. When one man pulled the bar towards him, seemingly as if it didn't weigh more than a few pounds, the upper die drove down onto the lower one. The other man soon pulled the bar towards him, lifting the screw and upper die. Revealed where I had placed the planchet, now stood a dozen shiny new coins. I quickly removed the coins and placed another planchet inside. We repeated this process over and over. Sometimes it took a little longer than most but once I got used to it, it only took about a minute to produce a dozen coins.

It was 1836 and I've worked in the Mint for many years, I was getting old and it became harder to work. I spoke to the Mint Director. I was almost positive they would replace me with a more able person. It turned out that instead of a person, I was replaced by a machine. I stared in awe as I saw them lift the machine into the Mint. This was a steam powered machine that could produce 100 coins a minute. I took investigated the machine curiously, wondering how it worked. I saw that instead of a screw, it had a toggle joint that would work the same as the screw. When they turned it on, the brisk, hydrated air filled the room. I took a deep inhale and watched as the machine sprang to life.