Forbes.com readers and editors rank Matthew Boulton as the 17th most influential businessman of all time. James Watt invented the condensing steam engine, but his partner, Matthew Boulton, marketed and manufactured it. Boulton encouraged Watt to expand the application of the engine, which was originally used just for pumping and mining work. In 1783, steam engines started to be installed in textile factories. A few years later, Boulton applied steam power to minting coins. Historian G.N. von Tunzelmann notes that Boulton's manufacturing system was the reverse of mass production, with multiskilled fitters making custom-made one-off machines--a system used today only for highly complex product systems in large-scale engineering. Boulton's innovations in currency production gave birth to the modern coin, reducing the counterfeiting that was rampant in his day. 　　

　　福布斯网站（Forbes.com）的读者和编辑将马修•博尔顿列为第17位有史以来最有影响力的商人。 　　
　　詹姆斯•瓦特发明了冷凝蒸汽机，但他的合伙人马修•博尔顿制造并把它推向了市场。最初，蒸汽机只是应用于抽水泵和开矿，博尔顿鼓励瓦特扩大蒸汽机的应用。1783年，蒸汽机开始安装到纺织厂。几年以后，博尔顿将蒸汽动力应用到了硬币铸造。历史学家G. N. 冯•塔泽尔曼指出，博尔顿的生产制造系统使用技术多面手的装配工生产定制的一次性机器，与大规模生产背道而驰，这种制造系统在今天只用于大规模工程中高度复杂的产品体系。 　　
　　博尔顿在货币生产中的创新促生了新式硬币，使得在他那个时代泛滥的假币得以减少。