Boulton was without doubt one of the leading entrepreneurs and visionaries of the eighteenth century. In partnership with James Watt, in 1775, he launched into the development and industrial application of the steam engine. In 1761 he began building his Soho Manufactory, where he pioneered revolutionary techniques of production, such as the division of labour, which, in terms of its scale and diversity, developed into an industrial complex without parallel or precedent in the world. As well as producing 'toys' that were the staple of Birmingham industry, such as buttons, buckles, boxes and japanned wares, he established the first steam-driven mint in the world.