The Bloomfield times. [volume] (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1867-187?, 1870-09-27
Interesting Facts Regarding Gold Coin.

unless great care is taken py Ine az
fdches of the bureau where gold is re-
ceived, the Government is liable to be
imposed upon by designing men, and the
reader may think that instances would
occur where several light pieces might
be slipped into a bag of five thousand dol
lars, and the fraud not be readily
detected. But a perusal of this article
will convince any one that such a sub
stitution would be almost impossible, and
that there is an effectual bar at the gold
counter of the Sub-Treasury against any
cheating by any evil-disposed citizen.
WHENCE COME THE COIN.
The larger part of the coin received at
the Sub-Treasury comes from the banks
and the Custom House. Very little is
brought in by private persons, and not
great deal direct from brokers, because
the coin which they take in the course
of business goes into the banks on de-
post The banks only send coin to the
Sub-Treasury when they want coin GER
tifcates-which, as circulating medium
between dealers in gold, is more conven-
lent, and has almost entirely taken the
place of the bulky metal.
On steamer days, or day or two be-
fore, the drafts upon the Sub-Treasury
arc pretty heavy, Then on the presenta-
tion of an order for coin, " Governor"
Birdsall goes into the vault with a mes
senger and brings out truck load Of
gold in bags, which are delivered to the
porter in the main hall, the court being
watched carefully by the officers on du-
ty in the building, who see that no sus-
pcious person has access to that quarter
of the apartment The gold is then car
ried away, packed in kegs and boxes,
and goes out of the country. 1t finds its
way back again however, after a time !;
for foreigners do not seem to have a
great affection for our "yellow boys"
asserting-and not without truth-that
our standard of fneuess is not so high as
that of European countries.
At the period of the year when the in
terest on the public debt is paid, the gold
comes into the Sub-Treasury vaults al
most as fast as it goes out. The creditor
of the Government no sooner receives
his interest than he hastens into the
street" where he exchanges his coin
for currency, receiving the benefit of the
premium The broker sends the gold to
the bank at the close of the days busi-
ness, and that institution in turn suffers
the coin to flow back into the Sub-Treas-
ury. A small proportion stops on the
way, resting either in the vaults Of the
bank or going to other cities, but glance
at the Treasury reports will show that
the amount in the vaults is kept at about
a uniform figure.
Where about twenty-five or thirty-fve
millions of gold are..kept circulating about
in the manner above described, the task
of examination is not an easy one, and on
some days the musical ring of coin is
heard in the Gold Room of the Sub
Treasury from morning till night. Nc
matter if bag of gold that has been
issued one day is returned the next, its
contents must be re-examined as carefully
as if had been away year, and search
made for pieces that have been tampered
with. AS each bag is offered for deposit
or exchange, its contents are emptied
upon table, the hand of the clerk is
rapidly passed through the pile, while
his eye and ear are alert for peculiar col
ors or peculiar sounds. If all its correct
the coin is counted by throwing into 9
tray one-fourth Or ope-eighth of its amount
pile by pile.
Then this small lot is placed into ont
pan of the scale, and sufficient of thu
uncounted coin is poured into the othe
pan to balance it; then the contents o
one pan are poured into the other, anc
, the empty one filed, and SO on until tn,
clerk is satisfied that the amount disigna
ted on the bag is correct A receipt i
| then given, or the exchange is made a
required, and the bag is tied up and Gen
5 into the vault for safe keeping If error
. are discovered in the count, the coin
sent back to the depositor for correction
One would think from the descriptio
above that it would be an easy matter I
, smuggle base coin or one that had bee
l tampered with, among a lot of gold. Blu
} indeed, it is extremely difficult, if not in