Bimetallic Coin Blank, Particularly for Coins and the Like

1. Field of Invention

The present invention refers to a coin blank, particularly for coins and the like, formed by one external and one internal part, each of a different metal or metal alloy, made integral one with the other.

2. Description of the Prior Art

At present, various combinations of bimetallic coin blanks of the above kind are known in the art, used for minting of coins, medals, tokens and the like, which however do not provide sufficient reliability with regard to coupling of the respective internal and external parts.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a bimetallic coin blank, particularly for coins and the like, comprising an external element having a central aperture and an internal element of a shape complementary to the central aperture of said external element, said elements being coupled together by means of a system capable of ensuring a considerable degree of attachment.

The present invention will be illustrated in greater detail hereinbelow with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, given merely as an example and not limitative, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1A, B are respectively a cross-section and plan view of the external element of the proposed bimetallic coin blank, and FIG. 1C is an enlarged scale, cross-section view, of a detail of the same;

FIGS. 2A, B are respectively a cross-section and plan view of the internal element of the proposed bimetallic coin blank, and FIG. 2C is an enlarged scale, cross-section view of a detail of the same;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section view of the external element of FIG. 1 and the internal element of FIG. 2 of the proposed bimetallic coin blank positioned in a schematically shown coin press; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-section view of the proposed bimetallic coin blank after the forced coupling of the external and internal elements of FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively, following the coining operation using the coin press in FIG. 3.

In FIG. 1, the external element of the bimetallic coin blank of the present invention, which is used for minting of coins in the present embodiment, is generically referred to in 1.

The external element 1 comprises a circular annular body 2 of metal or metal alloy with a thickened external perimetral edge 3 and an internal perimetral edge 4 delimiting a central circular aperture.

According to the present invention, within the thickness of the internal perimetral edge 4 of the annular body 2 are formed a series of circumferentially equidistant grooves 5, of predetermined shape and number, as needed.

In FIG. 2, the internal element, generally referred to in 6, of the bimetallic coin blank according to the invention, is shown in the above mentioned drawings, said element comprising a circular body 7 of metal or metal alloy different from that used for the external element 1, having a thickened external perimetral edge 8 and a circumferential ridge 9, the diameter of the circular body 7 being substantially equal to the diameter of the central aperture of the circular annular body 2.

In order to form the coin blank of the present invention in an integral manner, the external element 1 and the internal element 6 are positioned in a conventional coin press, as illustrated schematically in FIG. 3, where they undergo the minting operation which joins them inseparably. In fact, during the above mentioned operation, the strong pressure exerted by the minting cones on the two faces of the coin blank causes said elements to undergo a squashing action during which, as can be seen in FIG. 4, the internal circular body 7 expands to a greater extent than the external annular body 2, held in the ferrule of the press, so that the material from the portions of the ridge 9 which are in correspondence with the grooves 5 in the internal perimetral edge 4 of the annular body 2 fill the latter by plastic flow, while the material from the remaining portions of the ridge 9 is firmly fitted into the respective portions of the internal perimetral edge 4 of the annular body 2 comprised between adjacent grooves 5, thus causing a strong attachment of the external element 1 and the internal element 6.

Therefore, the resulting forced coupling is such that it leaves no degree of freedom for reciprocal movement to the elements forming the bimetallic coin blank of the invention, either in an axial or in a rotational direction.

Although in the example of the embodiment described above the use of the bimetallic coin blank according to the present invention refers to the minting of metal coins in which both the internal and the external element are of circular shape, the invention may be used for other similar applications, for example the production of medals and the like, comprising the modification of the shape of one or both the components, obviously as long as the external contour of the internal element corresponds to the contour of the internal aperture of the external element.

Therefore the present invention is not limited to the embodiment of the example described but comprises any variation of execution thereof.