Matthew Boulton, an English manufacturer and partner of James Watt, successfully applied steam power to coining machinery at his Soho Manufactory in Birmingham. This innovation allowed for the mass production of high-quality, uniform coins for the British government and other nations. The steam-powered mint was a showcase for the efficiency and precision of Watt's engine, demonstrating its value beyond pumping water.

Boulton's steam-powered mint represents the industrialization of money itself. This event, which made currency a product of the machine, resonated with the economic anxieties of the time, explored in the works of poets and thinkers who saw the rise of industrial capital as a force that could both unite and divide society.