Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1869-08-26

I yy,o~1ss Nevu& u~mtn9 O5as1s.1 =
-. r,.es.oItaY Carfoncy.
THE yIerErrE-PnscAUTIoNS AaANSf
@a aA's OVER ISSUE.
The new fractional currency d the de-
aomination Of ten ceuto r. NV pfessy
freely distributed throughout the country,
and the supply IL daily Increasing. IN .
| very short time the new will entirely
.upplant the old ten-cent stamps, and be
40 longer regarded % . curios6ty. The
| supply of the now Afts1n-csat sta0ps,
! however, is a. yet limited, though it u
| expected that in few days an amount
sufficient to meet all reasonable demands
will be sent from Washington TO the pub-
| lie through the VARIOUS Sub-treasuFiss IN
The country. Az yet no now twenty-five
| Or fifty-cent stamps are in circulation, the
| printing of them not having been COM
pleted Probably by the 10Th Of August
these will come into the market, and thus
gradually will the old issue be entirely
absorbed and committed to the hands OF
the government officials at Washington
| tor destruction.
| HOW UNCLE SAM GUARDS AGAINST AN
ovER-IssUE.
When the new issue of currency and
legal-tender notes was authorized by Con-
yress, Secretary Boutwell, determined to
adopt all possible precaution against an
,ver-issue of the money; not that he felt
| It necessary to guard against any errors
# the past in this respect Gf there had
been any, but because he wished to rem
Ter it impossible for the public to be de-
trauded by any irregularities whatever
IN the part of any individual or class of
| Jffi eials. He therefore placed an agent
| IN charge of the mill where the paper for
these notes was being made, and adopted
such a system Of checks as would prevent
che possibility of the issue of a single
sheet more than was proper. He then,
after consultation with the American
Bank Note Company, determined to d.
vide the contract for engraving and print
ing the notes, 80 that one company should
perform one part of the work, the other
company another part, and the govern
nent the finishing portion. Thus, any
,ttempt to make an over-issue OF the notes
would be checked in the outset of the
fraud for. in order to successfully ac-
complish the over-issue of even a single
note, four parties would have to be in col
lusion-the officer at the mill who counts
he sheets of paper, the two bank note
| companies and the officer in charge of the
printing bureau at Washington.
THE ADOPTION OF THE NEW DESIGN.
The Secretary of the Treasury was d.
rected by the act authorizing the new
issue to adopt as viginettes for the frac-
tional currency the effigies Of such per-
-ons as he might, in his judgement, deem
proper, but was restricted TO those OF
prominent personages, who were not now
living, and who had been closely identi-
fed with the history Of the country. The
secretary, after consultation with the
Ulcers Of the bank note companies above
mentioned, decided To adopt for the vigil
nettes of the two lower denominations of
the fractional currency the efigies of two
females, and for the two higher denomi
nations two men. There was little diff
Guilty in determining who among the de-
ceased prominent men in this country
should be selected, but when IL came TO
selecting the female efiigies, the Secretary
and his counselors were, as well may be
supposed, III quandary. After careful
consideration, and the submission of va
rious designs, 1T was determined to adopt
two allegorical effigies-one for the ten
and the other for the fifteen-cent stamp.
The efiigy of Washington was adopted
tor the twenty-five cent stamp, and that
Of Lincoln for the fifty-cent stamp.
CHARACTER OF THE WORK.
The faces of the tens and twenty-fves
and the backs Of the fifteens and fifties
are engraved and printed by the Ameri-
can Bank Note Company. The faces of
the fifteens and fifties, and the backs of
tens and twenty-fves, are engraved and
printed by the National Bank Note Com
pauy The red seals upon the face of all
the fractional currency are printed by the
Printing Bureau of the Treasury Depart
ment al Washington. The engraving by
both the bank note companies ~ exceed
ingiy well done, and IN marked and pleas
ing contrast with the execution of the old
fractional currency issued from the gov
eminent bureau. The stamps which have
thus far been issued do not look as well
as those which will succeed them, for the
reason that they were hurriedly printed,
and the impression is not as bright AS il
will be when more care Is taken with
them. For illustration the back Of the
itfeen-cent stamp looks pale and almost
Ii Ieless. This pale color is caused by the
revealing of the paper, in order to print
the face, and another revealing TO print
the stamp. If the ink upon the back
were suffered to dry perfectly before re-
wetting, the impression would be much
clearer. The defects will be remedied
with future issues.
THE NEW LEGAL TENDERS
are still in the hands Of the government
,ngraverr, and until they are issued no
general description can be given of them.
The same precautions will be taken with
them which are observed with the frac-
tional currency TO prevent possibility Of
over-issue or fraud. The backs and tints
will be engraved and printed by the bank
note companies. and the faces of the notes
by the government printing bureau.
THE WEAR AND TEAR OF CURRENCY.
Upon this point the New York World
says IL is estimated, as far AS il is possi-
ble to- do so without exact data, that the
total amount of currency annually de-
-troyed in the course of circulation il
more than sufficient 10 entirely defray the
cost Of printing and issuing it from the
Treasury.
The loss of small fractional currency il
greater than that of the larger denomina-
tion-, and the loss of currency greater
than that Of the legal tender notes, issued,
but the entire aggregate is more than suf-
fcient to defray the cost of printing and
putting both the currency and legal ten
ders in circulation. This statement may
appear highly problematicsl on first con-
sideration, but upon reflection it will be
found quite probable. Of course it is i'm
possible now to determine exactly how
much currency and legal tender there il
| in actual circulation which il liable to re-
demption. This fact cannot be known
until resumption of specie payments
causes n return to the Treasury of all the
paper money in the hands of the people
Then, and not before, can an estimate be
made Of the amount which has been lost