**1. Introduction and Goals**

The Segovia Royal Mint Factory (SRMF) has its origins in King Philip II of Spain's demand for a founder for the manufacture of cannons. In a letter dated 23 October 1574, the King stated that "«In these Realms there is a need for a couple of good artillery founders that they tell me tend to live in Nuremberg ... »" [1]. In 1577, this search led the King to the discovery of a new minting process, which had replaced the former minting process that involved using a hammer.

This new minting process was developed at Hall Mint, in 1571, and used a roller instead of a hammer. The main advantage of this new manufacturing process, and what made it so attractive to the crown of Spain, was its ability to maintain uniform weight, thickness, quality of type, engraving and precision parameters in every coin produced, which, in turn, made illicit activities such as clipping and filling incredibly difficult.

Figure 1 presents two images. The first corresponds to a coin minted (Real de a ocho) in the mechanized SRMF of Segovia in 1627, and the second to a "Real de a ocho", minted by a hammer, in the Casas Vieja (The effects of the clipping on the coin can be seen, in relation to the left coin) mint of Segovia, in 1627 [1–3].

**Figure 1.** Comparison between two coins minted in the Segovia Royal Mint Factory (SRMF) and minted by a hammer (Based on [1–3]).

Negotiations between the County of Tyrol and the Kingdom of Spain, regarding the transfer of technology, were initiated in 1581. The final approval of the agreement, allowing the introduction of the roller-based minting process in Spain, is detailed in a letter located in Innsbruck, dated 4 February 1582. In it, Archduke Ferdinand, cousin of King Philip II of Spain, gives Baron Khevenhüllern, Imperial Ambassador at the court of Philip II, permission to communicate the success of the negotiations to the Crown of Spain [2].

The SRMF project began development in 1582, during what is known as the proto-industrialization stage [4]. The SRMF would become one of the first European factories. It stayed operational from 1586 to 1866. In 2012, it became a museum.

Several innovations appear during the development of this project, which make it unique in the history of manufacturing. The most relevant are:


In the following sections, the following aspects of the SRMF Project will be analysed:


The focus of the article is to analyse the different innovations of the SRMF project.
