3.2.2. Manufacture of the SRMF's Machinery

The transportation of machinery and ancillary equipment from the Hall to Segovia was one of the most challenging stages of the SRMF project, when considered from a logistical perspective [9]. Given the distance (approximately 2000 km) between both cities, the difficult orography of some of the areas, and the large amount of equipment needing to be transported—25 carts were necessary, once everything was carefully packaged, to avoid any damage—the Spanish Road [10] was the chosen route, for safety reasons. Some members of the Hall Mint staff—an assayer, an engraver, a coin master, a founder and four coin technicians—were sent along for equipment installation, operation and personnel training purposes.

The journey was divided into three legs. Starting in Hall, the first leg was overland and had three stopovers: Como, Milan and Genoa. The second leg was the journey between Genoa and Barcelona, and was done by sea, while the last part of the trip, from Barcelona to Segovia, was an overland journey. The journey took from October 1584 to June 1585 [9]. Due to its magnitude, this trip can be regarded as a milestone in the history of logistics.
