Luton-based Bruderer UK (www.bruderer.co.uk), a supplier of high-quality punching technology, is playing a crucial role in the production of the new £1 coin.

The company, which has nearly 50 years’ experience in manufacturing and supplying precision high-speed presses, has installed a ‘state of the art’ machine at the Royal Mint’s Llantrisant facility in Wales, giving the world-famous institution additional speed, capacity and flexibility. It is being used to create the blanks for the new coin.

Bruderer UK’s managing director, Adrian Haller, said: “Our relationship with the Royal Mint stretches back nearly 40 years, and as part of its latest round of capital investment, we were asked to tender for a new press.

"After spending time with the production/engineering team, we identified our BSTA 1600-117B2 as the ideal machine to meet their requirements for greater speed and power — taking them from 125 tonnes to 180 tonnes.

"With the tender won, we then had to complete a three-day factory compliance test. The machine can do 14 coins per stoke and is running at 750 strokes per min, meaning 10,500 coins every 60 seconds — and over 5 million per day, based on a standard 8hr shift.”

Mervyn Evans, engineering manager at the Royal Mint, said: “We are pleased to continue our long-standing relationship with Bruderer, and I am delighted with the performance of the machine so far.

"It is delivering the speed and accuracy we need and is a fundamental part of a production process that will eventually produce over 1.5 billion pound coins.

"The larger than normal tool bed also means that it can process a range of materials for different-denomination blanks.”