Clearing photographs from my phone memory I came across a couple of pictures of statues with a numismatic interest linked to the industrial revolution.
The first picture is of James Watt, the steam engine pioneer. It's located in City Square in Leeds.
The second is from Centenary Square, Birmingham and shows James Watt, Matthew Boulton and William Murdoch.
James Watt provided the steam power for Boulton's factory for stamping buttons. The steam power was also used by Boulton in a new venture to drive the presses to make coins. Murdoch was an engineer and devised a linkage, unsuccessful as it happens, to transfer power from a steam engine to coinage press.
Penny and two pence pieces, at a weight of one and two ounces, were made at Boulton's Soho mint in Birmingham with a very distinctive rim that earned them the nickname "cartwheels".
All the pieces are dated 1797 and have a rather crude feel. Later products from the mint are much more refined pieces, such as this 1808 10 cash piece made for the East India Company for use in Madras.
