The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-06-05 00:00:00

THE ROYAL MINT.

The recent publication of the annual report of the Deputy-
Master of the Mint is noticed by the Daily Telegraph in an
article from which we make the following extract :-
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MOEEIi

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As it is now ten years since the administration of
the Royal Mint was re-organised, the Report lately
issued by the Deputy-Master of that establishment is
unusually interesting. The high office of Master, once
held by several of the most illustrious men of science,
was, it may be remembered, on the death of Professor
Graham, practically abolished. In 1870 the Lords
of the Treasury stated that there was no reason
why there should be two highly-paid controlling
officers in the Mint, a Master and a Deputy-
Master. The office of Master was accordingly
amalgamated with that of the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer. Thus Mr. Gladstone now holds, without
salary, the place which through its past history con-
nects one of our great administrative departments
with the most famous experimental philosophers Eng-
land has produced, from Newton down to Graham.
In the same way the die, coining, and melting depart-
ments, instead of being under different managers were
placed under the direction of a single officer, who, as
Mr. Fremantle, the Deputy Master, says,
"became responsible for all the mechanical
operations incidental to the production of coin,
and for the maintenance of all the ma-
chinery, and so forth, in the efficient state."
The duties of the non-resident assayers were also about
the same time transferred to the chemist of the Mint;
and, in short, we may say that the great reforms of ten
years ago mainly consisted in reducing the staff of
highly-paid servants by a process of amalgamating
offices, thus concentrating responsibility in few hands
instead of many. The principle was in theory most
excellent, for the operations of minting are twofold.
They consist, first, of mechanically producing nicely-
adjusted discs of precious metal, and, secondly, in pre-
paring alloys for coinage, in which the proportion
between the noble and the base ingredientsmustbemost
scrupulously regulated. Where so much depends on
exact adjustments of weight and measure it is certain
that ease and efficiency of administration are not
secured by any mixed system of responsibility and
authority. It is, therefore, most satisfactory to know
now that the application of this principle of re-
organisation in 1870 has during the last ten years
worked admirably. The first result was a saving of
expense, and, although the pressure on the resources
of the Mint has vastly increased since 1870, and the
clerical and operative staffs have had to be reinforced,
yet the average annual cost of the institution has not
sensibly augmented.
Of the rich stream of gold and silver that pours forth
through the portals of the Mint every year the present
statement gives us a fair idea. Over thirty millions
of coins were struck at the Mint last year, and their
value came to 2648,289. Of these only £30,613 100. is
the recorded value of the gold coin struck, whereas
silver worth more than half a million, and bronze
worth £43,550 3s. 70., were minted. These figures
are significant. Sirver is the sort of coin that is
handiest for small dealings, hence it is the favourite)
currency of mankind, for the majority of the trans-
actions entered into by most of the world's traders
must be small ones. Gold, on the other hand, is
the metal best suitable for trading- on a large
scale, and the insignificant amount of the nobler
ntetal abriteted into money a the Mint laert yeas
illustrate the severe affect which meat commercial

IMMEMS

depression has had on the business of the British
Empire. Our gold has been going out of the
country; in other words, obeying the law which
always regulates the set of the auriferous current, the
metal has gone to quarters where there is a greater
demand or need for it than there is in England. Yet,
on the principle that it is an ill wind that blows good
to no one, there are a few economists who need not re-
gard these facts as altogether dismal. The ingenious
and far-seeing gentlemen who during the controversy
on the "silver question" declared that what he had
to fear in the future was not the depreciation
of silver, but the "appreciation," or rising in price,
of gold, may begin to take heart of grace when they
find that the supply of gold is far in excess of our
commercial wants. But though the Mint is doing
less work in the way of coining gold, its accounts
show a balance on the wrong side. There is a net loss
in its transactions for the past year of £27,955, and
all we can say that is satisfactory on this head is that
the deficit is at least a great deal less than that
recorded for 1871, which ran up to £51,543. The
truth is, however, that the administration of the
Mint have not absolute control over its profit and
loss account. Its condition at the end of a year
depends very much on the amount of silver bullion
bought for coinage and on the amount of worn
silver called in for recoinage. That this must
be the case is clear when we call to mind that while
bullion is coined at a profit, the worn silver is minted
at a loss; for as silver has only what is called a
"token value," as distinguished from gold, which has
an absolute value in England, where we have a gold
standard, the depreciation due to wear and tear of
silver cannot, as in the case of gold, be thrown on the
public who use it. When trade is brisk, and there is a
good demand for silver, great quantities have to be
coined from bullion, and hence the profit of the depart-
ment at such times far exceeds its expenses. In discussing
this question, however, it is only fair to note that we
ought to look at the figures not for particular years,
but for cycles of years, so that we may get the eras of
prosperity to balance those of adversity. The report
now presented 'covers a decade of administration. It
thus shows. that, though in special years there is a loss,
yet during the last eight years the Mint has earned an
annual average profit of £21,117 on its bronze and
silver coinage. It ought also to be remarked that the
expense of the Mint has been augmented during 1879
owing to its having to meet a quickened demand on
the part of the Colonies for Imperial silver coin—a
demand strangely stimulated, we must explain, by
recently made whereby the establish-
ment on Tower-hill pays the cost of carrying new coin
out to and worn coin home from the outlying depen-
dencies