Richland beacon., 1880-02-28
ABOUT PENNIES.
Where They Circulate and by whom ,sOs'
Used.


Pennies are scarce, and the Mint can
not turn them out fast enough 10 supply
the de,naud. Coins OF this denomina-
tl"a are turned out only at the United
States Mint in this city, and from here
the Whole country is supplied. The
penny is p ,..>,st important factor in the
commerce. of tie country, much more
than most people imagine. The Mint is
six weeks behind in It's orders for the
sGpp,y of these small coins, which is, in
part, owing 20 the fact that all the
available material is being used for
OtAer purposes, and but a small part can
be put To peEny-making.
Where DO all the pennies go?' asked
a Pecorci reporter of Mint official yes
teruay.
Well, the Eorsc-car companies take a
good part of the supply, but we limit
each company to 80 worth per day.
Then tney are oblige,! to patch out with
'hrct cent pieces, of wi.icn they always
secure large quantities. Eut the mer-
chants make the heav ct demands upon
us, me grea; retail dry good5 houses tax
in all they can get, and then crying
Tor mere."
"Na,re are pennies most usedP'
% ~' nee, the reporter.
N,ll, there Is nD part in the United
Safe hardly where they are not used, "
VIZ lie rcpiy;" hut there are some Sec
lions where they are strangers, and rs
-2Ie: gold dollars are here. In tie
>rE.h tYe penny is almost unknown,
Ire ,rnalie-: coin being 3 fivecent piece.
Recently, hVWtv -, there has been some
d"nauG ior them from merchants in
Geo, IA and Alabama. In The fax West
there is but little demand for the penny,
tn. When one Gets to II. Louis, or east
oi ,haJ point, then the penny becomes a
familiar friend. Wherever there are
six-cent farcs On lie street-cars then
there is demand frum that city Cor pen.
mes. Now. Louisville seldom, if ever,
call, upon Us, while Cincinnati is con-
t!nu2lly crying Tor the one-cent piece.
New York consumes u big lot, and so dc
the Eastern States. The t"U-cent piece
vas good help 10 us f.: = time, out
none OF tken, have been cuiGcd for ten
Yeas, and all that are sent in and re-
deemed are recOined into One-cent
pieces"
IL is somewhat remarkable thing,
but such is the fact continued the otfi.
Ger, that competition in trade induces
and increases the demand for pennies
Whenever trade is briskest, then the
penny is needed mOst-that is, retail
trade. When The banks take from us,
o!thAr,nt, loroa doc, Hnctr,ofa Iilyn
the calls from the tradesmen. The East
ern States are the great penny centers.
and it is only rs the population of the
West increases that it wants pennies.
The fve-cent piece is the standard coin in
the West, but the penny is making in
roads on it, and great ones, too"
Are you making many Bland dol.
lars" was the next question the reporter
put to the official.
"Don't call Them Bland dollars, but
standard dollars" replied the official, in
language which could not be mistaken.
"They are not Bland dollars, and it is a
popular mistake people make to call
them by that name. Now, put that
back of your ear where you will remem.
Der it. They were not created by the
Bland bill, which was for free coinage,
but under another act"
After this kindly correction the
Record man determined that hereafter,
that if any of his friends come to borrow
Bland dollars of him they would not get
them mot by that name anyhow; per.
haps not by any other.
This has been one OF the busiest years
ever known at the Mint, and Colonel
Snowden has had his hands full Most
of TIE time the machinery has been a,
wori; night and day. The value of TIE
coins turned out for the calendar year
ending yesterday was: Gold, S9,744,.
645; silver. $l4, SIS, 235; base coins,
SI65,003. The number of standard sill
yer dollars coined was 14,S07, 100, ard
the number of gold one dollar pieces
5000. The official year of the mint does
not close until the 30ih of June.