1.When I was a little boy，pennies，and halfpennies，and farthings were made of pure copper.But copper is too soft a metal to stand the rubbing which coins get.So these old pennies soon became so smooth that one could not tell “head”from “tail，”or indeed see any letters on the pennies at all.
2.By mixing with the copper a little of each of the two other metals known as zinc and tin，we get an alloy called bronze.Any mixture of two or more metals is named an alloy.Bronze is much harder than the copper alone，or the zinc alone，or the tin alone.
3.The melted bronze is poured into moulds①，and is thus castinto bars about a foot long.Next，each of these bars is rolled out between steel rollers，and made into a sheet of metal of the thickness of a penny.
4.A machine then cuts the sheet of bronze into round pieces，called blanks，each being just the size of a penny.Then each blank has its edge thickened by another machine.The thickened edge keeps the letters on the coin from being worn off.
5.But now the letters and the figures must be put on.This is①Mould，a hollow shape.
done by placing the blank in a steel case，or die，on which are carved all the marks that you see on one side of a penny.
6.On another steel die are carved all the marks for the other side of the penny，and the blank is squeezed between the two dies with great force.Bronze is much softer than steel，so the marks on the dies are stamped on each side of the penny.
7.Did you ever look carefully at a penny？On one side is the head of our queen，with her name，“Victoria.”Theother words on this side are in Latin①，and they tell that Victoria is “Queen of Britain，by the grace②of God”.
8.On the other side is the figure③
o f a woman，named Britannia.Britannia just means our own country，Britain.Her right hand rests on a shield④，on which you see the cross that call the “Union Jack”.On her head is a helmet⑤；and in her left hand is a three-pointed spear，which means that she rules over the sea.
9.In front of Britannia a ship is seen，and behind her a light-house⑥.
Above are the words “ONE PENNY，”and below is a date showing the year in which the penny was made.
①Latin，the language of ancient Rome，now the capital of Italy，a country of Europe.
②Grace，favour；kindness.
③Figure，likeness；portrait.
④Shield，a frame covered with skin or metal，to keep off blows.
⑤Helmet，a metal head-covering.
⑥Lighthouse，a high building with lights at the top to warn ships off rocks.
SUMMARY
A penny is made of bronze，which is an alloy of copper mixed with a little zinc and tin.The melted bronze is cast into bars，which are rolled out into sheets of the same thickness as a penny.A machine then cuts the sheets into blanks of the size of a penny.The edges are then thickened，after which the blanks are stamped between two steel dies.
【中文阅读】
1．我还是个小男孩的时候，英国的便士、半便士、四分之一便士硬币，都是纯铜做的。可是纯铜这种金属太软，硬币在使用中磨得太厉害，纯铜经不起这种摩擦。所以，这些老硬币很快就会磨得太光，连正反面都看不出来，便士上的字母更是磨得一个也看不见了。①2．有两种金属名叫“锌”（zinc）和“锡”（tin），如果在铜里，把这两种金属中的一种，掺一点儿进去，我们就得到了一种叫做“青铜”的合金。合金，就是两种或者更多种金属的混合物，青铜比单独的铜、单独的锌、单独的锡都硬得多。②3．青铜熔化之后，倒进模具里面，铸成大约一英尺长的青铜条。然后，把这些青铜条放在钢制的滚筒之间，压成一便士那么厚的金属板。③4．然后，一台机器把青铜板切成圆形的小块，这些小块叫做“坯饼”
（blank），每一个坯饼的尺寸都和一个硬币的尺寸相当。然后，每一个坯饼的边缘，再用另一台机器加厚。加厚的边缘，可以防止硬币上的字母磨掉。
5．但是，现在就必须往硬币上印字母和数字了！这就要把坯饼放进一个钢制模具（die）里面，在模具上，刻上了硬币一边的所有图案。
6．在另外一个钢制模具上，刻着硬币另一边的所有图案。把坯饼放在模子中间，用很大的力量挤压。青铜比钢要软得多，所以模具上的图案就印在了硬币的两边。④7．小朋友，你仔细看过1便士的硬币吗？一边是英国的女王头像，还有她的名字“维多利亚”。其他文字是拉丁语，告诉我们，维多利亚是“蒙上帝恩惠的不列颠女王”。⑤8．硬币的另一面是一个女人的雕像，名字叫“不列颠尼亚”，这是我们的国家“大不列颠”的拉丁语名字。她的右手放在一面盾牌上，盾牌上有一个十字，我们把这个十字叫做“米字旗”（Union Jack）。女人头上戴着一个头盔，左手握着一把三叉戟，意思是，她是海上的统治者。
9．不列颠尼亚的前面，可以看见一艘船，身后有一座灯塔。硬币上面是“1便士”的字样，下面是硬币铸造的年份。⑥译注①便士最早出现大约在公元785年左右，当时是银质的。英国的1837-1901年叫做“维多利亚时期”，纯铜硬币，大约铸造在维多利亚时期的前半段，也就是1839-1860年之间，之后铸造的材料才换成下文所说的青铜。这三种面值的硬币现在都已经停止流通了。便士在1971年，半便士在1969年，四分之一便士，又叫“花星”，在1960年停止流通。
②制造硬币的金属，需要两种完全相反的特性：必须软到容易加工，又必须硬到不容易磨损。因为同时具备这两种特性的金属太难找了，所以硬币一般都是合金。1860年之后，英国制造硬币的青铜，含有95%的铜，4%的锡和1%的锌。中国现在流通的硬币，材质有铝镁合金、不锈钢、钢芯镀铜、钢芯镀镍等等。
③现在的中国铸币工业里，青铜条叫“铸锭”，金属板叫“条片”。
④这力量是从哪里来的呢？就是从我们在第35课里学过的蒸汽机！1788年，瓦特的朋友，英国人马修·博尔顿（Matthew Boulton）建立了“索霍造币厂”
（Soho Mint），这是世界上第一家用瓦特蒸汽机铸币的工厂。
⑤维多利亚女王（Alexandrina Victoria，1819-1901）是英国历史上在位时间最长的君主，长达64年。这本书出版的时候，她已经去世了。
⑥从图上可以清楚地看到，这枚硬币是1895年铸造的。当时的英国还有很多殖民地，号称“日不落帝国”。现在的英国可远没有这么神气了。亲爱的读者，请你也仔细观察一下咱们中国的一角硬币，看看上面有什么图案？
OUR HELPER，THE HORSE
