Take a coin and look at the edge; can you
see the ridges. Those ridges are the invention or innovation of Sir Isaac
Newton. After all the laws and discoveries had made Newton famous, he was appointed as Warden of
the Royal Mint in 1696. Counterfeiting of currency was rampant during those
days. Newton
implemented a harsh regime to deter counterfeiting, which included hanging and
quartering of convicts.
Many coins were made of precious metal, and
people used to shave the edge of coins to collect the metal. To prevent this Newton introduced the
milled edges on coins and is still followed today. In recognition of Newton ’s contribution, the
British £ 2 coin issued in 1997 had the phrase “Standing on the shoulders of
giants” around its milled edge. These words are taken from a letter that Newton sent to fellow
scientist Robert Hooke, in which he said “If I have seen further it is by
standing on the shoulders of giants”
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