A method of making wire has the steps of rolling out a wire in a mill having a finishing stand from which the wire exits at a predetermined and varying travel speed VD, pulling the wire through a cooling/equalizing stretch downstream in a travel direction from the finishing stand by means of a cooler drive at a downstream end of the finishing stretch such that the wire exits the cooler drive substantially at the travel speed VD, passing the wire through a looping stretch downstream of the cooler drive to a looper drive, operating the looper drive at such a speed that the wire forms a loop between the cooler drive and the looper drive and exits the looper drive at a looper speed VT normally different from the travel speed VD, and forming the wire into turns and depositing the turns as a coil downstream of the looper drive.