The Euro - heads you win, tails you win!

Citation

(1999), "The Euro - heads you win, tails you win!", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 46 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.1999.12846eaf.001

The Euro - heads you win, tails you win!

Keywords Chemetall, Copper plating, European currency

Jean-Michel Gautier and Jean-Marie Lartigot, Chemetall Plating Technologies, Clichy, Paris, France.

Up to 1 January 2002, the date at which the Euro becomes the standard in nearly every purse, the Pessac Mint (in Gironde) will have produced 7.6 billion coins, worth 16 billion French francs.

The Euro at Pessac

For Pessac, the Euro has meant an investment of 100 million francs over three years and the recruitment of an additional 45 employees since 1997. Certified to ISO 9002, the Pessac mint has to be quality conscious, use up-to-date technology, and break new ground. In two years production has tripled.

Chemetall and the Euro

During 1997, Chemetall Plating Technologies, Europe's third largest supplier of electrochemistry products, carried out numerous trials for Pessac to ensure process approval and attended several project presentation meetings. When one considers the media impact of such a set-up and the need for total success, numerous discussions were obviously necessary (against very active competition). Eventually, Chemetall Plating Technologies (Precium) was awarded the business.

This included Chemetall Plating Technologies setting up a copper plating process for the 1, 2 and 5 cent Euro coins (or Euro-centimes). The pieces to be copper plated are coin blanks (circles of virgin metal) in the as-received state. The equipment and process sequence (see below) must ensure an average daily output of five to six tonnes per 24 hours (1,200m²) from the bright copper plate with a uniform 25mm (±3mm) deposit. Process set-up also took into account the need for effluent treatment to achieve "zero discharge".

The Chemetall Plating Technologies (Precium) processes put in place were:

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  Prelik 1700: immersion cleaner.

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  Prelik 1760: anodic cleaner.

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  Sulphuric acid 5-8 per cent pickle.

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  Polaris E: alkaline copper.

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  Antiox AG: passivate.

Following copper plating, and after storing for one to two months, the coppered coin blanks are sent to the very quick, fascinating machines, which strike the national emblem on one face and the Euro value on the other, which is why the adhesion and ductility qualities of the copper deposit are so important. Parallel to this internal production, the Pessac mint has found the need to employ a complementary sub-contract manufacturer, still to the same high quality standards. Steel blanks for coins of 1, 2 and 5 cents must receive a 25 micron deposit and a finish which imparts sufficiently long protection, since these coins will not appear in people's pockets or purses until the beginning of 2002.

To meet such a long, precise and strict requirement, the company Europ&eacuteenne de Chromage (EDC) at Saint Dizier, specialists in nickel-chrome plating and bronzing of aluminium extrusions, has been employed to ensure the treatment of between 500 and 800 tonnes of coin blanks annually.

Making available a line previously used for nickel plating, the management of EDC provided the necessary investment to convert the line to the sequence used at Pessac. In this way, since October 1998, with either two or three shift working, EDC can ensure a daily through-put of up to four tonnes.

The treated pieces are sent to Pessac to join the line of presses and receive their final design stamp. Through these two installations, Chemetall Plating Technologies has actively participated in the launch of the European currency.

Anti-Ox AG is now available in the UK from Chemetall Ltd. It is immersion applied after completion of the plating process and the resulting protective film is particularly resistant to sulphur attack, to which silver and silver alloy deposits are especially prone. Anti-Ox AG will also protect copper deposits from natural oxidation and will counter the instability of some gold tints. The film is completely invisible and does not affect deposit appearance. Its resistance to sulphurous atmospheres makes it very attractive for use in the jewellery trade. Unlike some traditional passivates, Anti-Ox AG is environmentally friendly in that it does not contain hexavalent chrome or solvents.

Details available from Chemetall: Tel: +44 (0)1296 399233; Fax: +44 (0)1296 399211 (UK). Tel: +33 1 47153800 (France).