The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1883-02-07
Now Five-Cent Coin.

Upon the recommendation OF Super
intendent Snowdcn, OF the Mint, the
Secretary OF the Treasury has approved
a change in the devices, inscriptions
and diameter Of the 5.cent nckel-cop-
per coin.
The present coin was issued under
act of Congress approved May 6, 1866,
and made the weight five grammes and
the diameter two centimctcrs.
This was the first attempt in the his
tory OF our coinage TO prescribe by
law the diameter of q coin. This had
always been left to the discretion of the
mint officials, whose judgment could
be better trusted than that of Congress-
men, who Of necessity have but little eX-
pert skill or knowledge on such subjects,
jects.
The result of this attempt was the
issue Of "A coin without due proportion
of thickness 10 diameter without so
nority or ring, and devoid OF beauty.
The object Of this unusual legislation
was an attempt ON the part Of the ad-
yocates Of the metric system 10 make
coin useful in educating the public to
knowledge and acceptance Of the me-
trio system in our daily transactions.
This attempt to educate by legislation
has proven signal failure As the
law had 10 allow of divergence OF
two grains above and below the pre-
scribcd standard, it was inaccurate and
unreliable as weight; and as the di-
ameter of the coin could not be made
uniform, owing 10 want of uniform
ductility of the nicklc-copper allcy, il
was obviously no standard TO use as
measure.
The devices on the coin were also I'M
artistic, The shield on the diverse was
made so large as TO crowd the other
work and compel the Use of very small
figures In the date and very narrow
border around the periphery of the
piece The motto; "ln God We Trust"
above the shield, was forced so near
the edge of the con as to excite appre-
tensions that it would not be able to
hold its place
To remove these defects. and also to
make the inscription and devices con-
form to the requirements Of the coin
age act of 1873 and to good type, Colo
mel Snowden prepared and submitted
TO the Secretary Of the Treasury o coin
of increased diameter and new devices,
inscriptions, etc.
The coin is to be twenty-one MILL
meters in diameter. On the diverse is
a classical head of Liberty. with the in
scription Liberty on the tiara. and
the date below, and all surrounded by
7 thirteen stars. On the reverse Of the
coin is the Roman numerical, indicat-
ing the denomination of the coin sur
rounded by beautifully arranged
wreath composed Of cotton, wheat and
corn, products OF the country, and all
surrounded by the inscriptions, United
States Of America and "E Plurihus
! Unum."
The coin is great Improvement on
its predecessor, and Is beautiful in it,
design and execution, and reflects cred,
it upon the taste and skill of the off,
GERS ofthe Mint. Philadelphia Telegraph
- yex---------.
In 4 Chicago school recently Une
children were asked to give a sentence
with the word capillary" A little
| girl wrote II sailed across the ocean
in capillary When asked what she
meant by that she turned 10 Webstor's
Dictionary and triumphantly pointed
out this definition; Capillary, a fine
vessel F0Hher investigation showed
that nv n.n twenty scholars had
made the same bluuder,