The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-01-20
Afghan Money.

Afghan Money.
Let me now describe the process
through which English rupees at
present pass to bring them out
from the Cabul Mint in shape of Ca
bul rupees. In one of the rude
sheds which I have described as
running round the courtyard, are
two rows Of small, round clay
hcarths, elevated an inch or two
above the floor, and depressed, like
plate, in the middle. A Pile of
rupees generally three hundred =
having been counted and weighed,
is placed upon one of these hcarths
in u caref.lly prepared bed of bone
ashes. and covered over with char
coal and wood. The charcoal is
then lighted, and when we'll aglow
four pounds Of lead for every three
hundred rupees is added to the fur
mace The lead, in combination
with the bone ashes, separates As is
well known, the alloy. This pro
cess converts the rupees into a dull,
,unsightly mass Of silver, free, or
nearly so. from alloy. The pure
silver thus extracted is then carried
to another shed, carefully weighed
and an amount Of English rupee,
eqnal to i1S weight added to. Ru-
pees and silver are then melted to
gcthnr in clay cruciblc and the
melted mixture is lallcl By hand
into mods, which olive in shape of
fattened bars about twelve inches
lone. These bars ale then taken
to u third shed to be arn.ai'l by
hanmcring, and given the form of
slender, round rods. The next pro
cess is that of drawing these rods
through a plate Of iron, perforated
with round holes to give them n
uniform circumference. This is
done ~ means Of Il rude hand
wheel. after which tn" rods are cut
by hammer and chisel into the
lengths requisite to form the futHrr
rupee, each Of which lrngth, is care
fully weighed in a pair Of scales.
ANY that are too heavy arc hauied
to Il workman whose business II is
to alicesoh fragment with his chs
ell; any Oh the contrary, That, are
too light are handed to another
workman, who notchos the Iilllc
cylinder by 4 blow oh the ch;srl,
and inserts the required fragment
into the notch The cylinders are
next carried to the fifth shed, and,
after gently heating, are hammered
into small, round disks, which have
a ycllowish white color 10 remove
this color and give them brightness
they are next plunged into caldron
Of boiling water, in which they are
boiled for some time along with ap-
ricot fruit and salt. This process
imparts whitcncss to the duh disks
Of silver, and they are then ready
for the last process they have to go
through, that Of stamping. This is
perhaps, the most interesting part
of the operation. Two operators
sit facing one another, half naked
on the ground, with a little iron an
vii between them. Into the face OF
/ the anvil is inserted steel stamp,
destined to give the impression
which the under side Of the rupee
will bear. One operator places the
little silver disk with great quick
ness and accuracy upon the stamp
and the other, who is arm9 with a
heavy hammer in the right hand
and II steel stamp bearing the in
scrIption destined for the upper
side of the rupee in his left, with
one heavy, well delivered blow, i'm
presses the device on the solid lump
Of silver. Lastly each rupee thus
stamped is again weighed, and de
ficicncies in weight made up by tn"
same rude process rs noted at an
other STAGE Of the work, the "meh
dcd rupee passing once more under
the hand Of the stamners. Such Is
the simple process by which money
now is heinr coined at Caba]. 1t
f certainly makes one stare m it
very simplicity, and the absence Of
all secrecy. fuss, OF show; and Yet
it is perfectly effective, and the mon
cy turnpd out, though rough and
. unfinished, is excellent ia quality
II inartistic in shape ana arancC
1t needs hardly to he sajd That th'
+ rupees coined as nave described
. contain one half the quantity Of al
loy which the English rupee does.
| shall only add that the establi<h-
E mont as now constituted, can tnrr
, out twenty five thousaad rupees PEI
day and is capable Of ANY extension