Depression
In 1923 the almost monopoly position of the Mint as supplier to foreign (non-empire) countries was lost as the Royal Mint was given permission to supply to the world market, although the Mint continued to supply the Royal Mint. During The Depression profits were minute and after shareholder revolt the Mint was taken out of the hands of the Heaton family in May 1935. From this time the production of coins became a small part of the overall business of non-ferrous metal sheet and tube production. Coinage accounted for 10-20% of the business from 1940-64. World War II again demanded quantities of brass sheet and copper tube for ammunition and aluminium-brass cylinder linings for Rolls-Royce aeroplane engines. Bomb damage and the effects of continuous production for the war left the factory run-down. It was unable to supply new minting machinery to the Royal Mint in 1948, but did provide the necessary drawings.
Read more about this topic: Birmingham Mint
Famous quotes containing the word depression:
“That terrible mood of depression of whether it’s any good or not is what is known as The Artist’s Reward.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)
“During depression the world disappears. Language itself. One has nothing to say. Nothing. No small talk, no anecdotes. Nothing can be risked on the board of talk. Because the inner voice is so urgent in its own discourse: How shall I live? How shall I manage the future? Why should I go on?”
—Kate Millett (b. 1934)
“I realized how for all of us who came of age in the late sixties and early seventies the war was a defining experience. You went or you didn’t, but the fact of it and the decisions it forced us to make marked us for the rest of our lives, just as the depression and World War II had marked my parents.”
—Linda Grant (b. 1949)