Franklin Peale Peale designed a new machine to cut planchets, or blanks, from metal strips. This machine remained in use, almost unmodified, until 1902. Another of the steam-powered machines Peale had installed on his return was a milling machine, which was used to "upset" the coin—to form a rim around it. A Contamin portrait lathe was imported from France and installed at the Philadelphia Mint in 1837. Prior to this time, all coin dies for American coins had to be made individually, by hand at Philadelphia. Once the lathe was installed, they could be reproduced mechanically by the pantograph-like device. The first
Larvell Blanks when Braves left fielder Rico Carty went on the disabled list with elbow tendinitis. Having been used all over the infield in the minors. Blanks played second base primarily in . He ended his first month in the majors with a .415 batting average, but cooled off to .329 by the end of the season. During the off-season, regular second baseman Félix Millán was dealt to the New York Mets, seemingly opening the door for Blanks to inherit the second base job until the Braves acquired Davey Johnson from the Baltimore Orioles four weeks later. Instead, Blanks spent the first