Visit the "Shenyang Mint": a century-old industrial heritage that has been revitalized in the inheritance

Source: China News Network

Shenyang, China News Network, January 28 Title: Visiting the "Shenyang Mint": A Century-Old Industrial Heritage Has Been Revitalized in Inheritance

China News Network reporter Han Hong

In the fifth batch of national industrial heritage list released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, "Shenyang Mint" is listed as the only enterprise in the three eastern provinces. Recently, following the footsteps of history, reporters walked into this industrial heritage, felt its historical and technological value, and explored how to better protect, develop and utilize it.

"Shenyang Mint" is the former name of Shenyang Mint Co., Ltd. As a century-old industrial heritage, it is the epitome of China's modern industrial development: it participated in the printing of the first set of large-denomination RMB banknotes, contributed to the successful test firing of China's intercontinental missiles, and is still the leader of China's mint enterprises, and the garden-style factory is full of new vitality.

Taking history as the starting point to highlight the century-old industrial style

"As the first machine factory in Northeast China, it has created a precedent for Shenyang's modern machine industry, and is a witness and watchman for the development of the city and industry." According to Wei Hongkun, deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Party Committee of Shenyang Mint Co., Ltd. and director of the Shenyang Mint Museum, the company was founded in 1896 and has a history of 126 years.

The former factory and the independently built aluminum coin production line fundamentally changed the situation of poor mint production conditions and relatively backward process equipment; the stainless steel coin production line that was completed was the world's largest mint enterprise with the largest production capacity at that time. Nowadays, companies with a century of minting experience have vigorously promoted the construction of ordinary commemorative coin production lines and have become the production base of ordinary commemorative coins for copper alloys in China.

Standing at No. 138 Dadong Road, Dadong District, Shenyang City, a gatehouse surrounded by red walls and quite historical charm stands in front of you, and the door number is impressively written with the four characters of "Shenyang Mint". According to Wei Hongkun, taking the excavation of historical value as the starting point, the company completed the reconstruction of the main entrance in accordance with the style of the main entrance archway during the construction period in 1896, restored the factory arch in the late Qing Dynasty, and reproduced the elegant beauty of China's ancient architecture and the historical style of a century-old industry.

Shenyang Mint Museum. Courtesy of Shenyang Mint Co., Ltd

With science and technology as the support to create world-class technology

The first set of renminbi in New China, the ocean machine at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the original model of coinage with a history of nearly a hundred years... The precious collections in the factory area tell the history of the development of Chinese coins, showing the traditional hand carving skills of the workers and masters, as well as modern craftsmanship.

According to Wei Hongkun, in 1948, the factory participated in the production of the first set of RMB large-denomination banknotes with strong technical advantages and equipment advantages, of which the first set of RMB large-denomination banknotes of five denominations and nine varieties were produced by the company. The first set of RMB banknotes of these nine varieties was also the variety with the highest level of paper use, printing quality and anti-counterfeiting at that time.

As a leading enterprise in the minting technology of China's printing industry, in the early 1990s, the Minting Technology Research Institute of China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation (Shenyang) was established, and over the years it has developed and applied a number of domestic and international first-class minting technologies such as copper alloys, mint composite materials, miniature characters, and invisible engraving.

In 2020, Shenyang Mint Co., Ltd. took the lead in carrying out a pilot project of mechanical destruction of damaged coins in national printing enterprises. During the one-year pilot period, Shenyang Mint destroyed a total of 1,200 tons of various RMB coins, and the results of large-scale production were prominent. Wei Hongkun said that the opening of this business is a pioneer and model for China's banknote printing and minting industry to promote the strategic transformation and upgrading of RMB functionality, digitization and internationalization under the two-wheel drive of "cash intelligent manufacturing + currency integrated service".

Take culture as the carrier to achieve the integrated development of industry and tourism

In the factory area, a building with a construction area of 1170 square meters is quite interesting. According to reports, this is the Shenyang Mint Museum, which was completed by using the renovation of the factory building of the principled testing center, and was completed and opened to the public in 2016.

"The Shenyang Mint Museum is an effective carrier for Shenyang Mint Co., Ltd. to protect and utilize industrial heritage and give play to the value of industrial heritage." Wei Hongkun said that here reproduces the development process of Chinese coinage, shows the important nodes and historical events in the history of Shenyang coinage in the history of China's coinage development, and shows the craftsman spirit of contemporary Chinese mints who carefully mint the republic's business card through the display of the main process of minting, anti-counterfeiting technology, award-winning products, etc.

Not only are precious collections on display in the museum, but the reporter also saw more than ten sets of old minting equipment in the factory area. Wei Hongkun said that in order to give the best display space for the historical heritage in the factory area, the company will display the industrial heritage preserved in the courtyard to the public, let the cultural relics tell the history, and let the cultural relics tell the story. At the same time, it also builds a unique garden-style factory, develops experiential tourism, study tours and leisure tourism boutique routes with industrial heritage as the carrier, and forms a new model of industrial cultural tourism integrating production, tourism, education and leisure.

After more than 120 years of spring and autumn, spanning three centuries, Shenyang Mint Co., Ltd. has "archived" industrial memory and confirmed the changes of the times. Wei Hongkun said that in the future, the company will vigorously promote the inheritance of monetary culture and achieve "the combination of industry and tourism, and the promotion of industry and tourism". (End)