Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-03-12
THE PROFIT ON COINAGE.
Some Curious Facts Relating to URrc.
deemed Obligations Of the Government.
New York Sun

Some Curious Facts Relating to URre-
deemed Obligations Of the Government.
New York Sun.
A considerable source of profit to the
United States government is the amount
of paper money and coin which is never
presented for redemption. Much of this
is destroyed by fire. Seine of it is buried
or hid in places known to no person
alive. A large quantity of the coin is
melted to make sterling sllverware. Con-
siderable amounts of both paper money
and coin are exported, never to return. Not
long ago United States bond, issued
about 1919, was presented at the sub-treas-
ury in this city. The interest on it had
ceased over fifty years. It had come back
from Europe through Barring Brothers.
The outstanding principal of the
public debt of the United States last year
was nearly $2,0OO,OOO,OOO, chiefly repre-
scented by bonds and treasury notes. It
would be, of course, impossible to say how
much of this will never be presented fer
redemption, but some idea may be form
cd from the fact that $57,665 of it
was issued 40 long ago that the date is not
recorded. 1t appears in the report as
'old debt" that may safely bs put down as
profit. There is an item of $82,525 Of
treasury notes Issued prior to 1916. Some
of them were issued nearly fifty years ago,
and will not, in all probability, ever be
presented for REDEEM PtiOn. One thousand
one hundred and four dollars of the Mexi-
can idemnity of 1916 has never
been claimed. The last of the frac-
tisnal currency was issued under the
act of June 6, 1864, yet, although nearly
twenty years have elapsed, $7,O77,247 has
not been presented for redemption. Some
of it is still used by banks and merchants
for transmitting small sums by mail.
Several New York banks have consider
able sums of new fractional currency
which they distribute for the accommoda
ton of their customers.
AS to the coin the government derives
considerable profit from it. The silver in
1000 silver dollars costs on an average.
about S8O375. The coinage of silver
dollar costs about one and one quarter
cents. The total cost of 1000 silver dol
lars to tine government is therefore S816. 25.
Since the organization of the mint in 1898.
127, 190,61S silver dollars have been coined
on which the government has received
profit of over $23,O00,O00.
In the same period $122.758,41O was
coined into half dollars. At the same rate
of cost for coinage the government profted
S19,395,769 on these. The total silver
coinage of the government since 1893, is
$347, 766,792. Estimating the profit On
the halves, quarters, and subsidiary coins
at the same rate on the dollars, the total
profit received by the government on its
silver coinage has been about $64,OOO,OOO.
In the coinage of the fve-cent nickels
the government reserved to itself the lib
eral profit of nearly so per cent. This
gave to the government last year the hand
some revenue of over 100000 from
nIckels alone. The wide margin between
the intrinsic value of the fve-cent nickel
and its face value led to extreme counter
feiting. Several years ago an assay was
made of some of the counterfeit nickels.
and it was discovered that the counter
feiters had put into their coins more valu-
able metal than the government uses in
making the genuine coins.