The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-03-27
Coin ana Coinsge.

| tne TuliauelpnlR mint, was asked Wotn9l
any oountereits had been circulated lie
replied that he did not think it possible,
'"The only kind that could have been
issued 30 soon would he very poor I'M.
preston taken from plaster OF Paris
cast. 1t would not deceive anybody.
10 counterfeit 1t by the use Of dies
would take considerable time. It is q
difficult operation, rs the noise of ma.
chine to strike off the coin would be-
tray the eounterfeiter. The old five
and three-cent pieces have been coun-
terfeited, but not successfully"
In reference to what had been said
about the coin beng copy of designs
on Spanish 2O.real piece and O small
bronze Portuguese coin Of 1868, Colonel
Snowden did not think that the resem-
blance besween the foreign coins and
ours justified such TN insinuation. The
two foreign coins were brought in.
"IIook at them," said the Colonel.
"The Portuguese piece has Roman nu-
neral, but, rs Roman numerals are not
copyrighted, it seems to me no more q
plagiarism to put a Roman numeral on
Il coin than it would be to put an Arabic
cipher there. AS far back as 1866 Ro-
man numerals were used on all our mi
nor coins. The wreath on the Portu-
guese piece is of oak and laurel leaves;
that Oh ours is OF wheat. cotton aud corn,
not very similar surely. The head OF
Isabella Oh the Spanish coin bears q
very slight resemblance to the chaste
outlines OF the Liberty head on the
fve-cent com. The two foreign coins
are clumsy and heavy, contrasting
strongly with the trim neatness of the
little American. There is not the slight
est foundation for the report that the
latter was about to be Withdrawn from
circulation. Thirty-tive thousand dol.
lars worth Of them have been struck of
and thirty thousand dollars worth have
been issued. A great quantity were
sent to other cities and the people seem
to be pleased with them. No coin was
evor struck of with as much ease.
Though the Liberty head appears to
stand out SO strongly from ITS surface
the relief Is intinltesimal."
The New York assay Office holds near
~ 50O,O ounces OF silver bullion, re.
celved from deposltors i'll payment of
charges for treatment of bullion at that
Office. About 10O, 900 OUNCES have been
transferred to the Philadelphia mint,
and the superintendent there has been
authorized to use it in the coinage OF
subsidiary SILVER, chiefly 10.cent pieces,
The rest of the bullion at the New York
assay office will be chiefly coined into
dimes, rs there is a scarcity of these
coins now in the treasury and the de-
mand for them is increasing.
The house committee on coinage.
weights and measures decided on the
| " Nf civ 60
1t was lnexpedient at present to suspend
The coinage OF silver. AS the vaults
are now full of standard dollars. they
Will recommend that additional vault
room be provided ut such places In the
Mlsslsslppl valley rs the secretary OF
the treasury shall select. They also
advise that all coin in the treasury ex-
ceptlng anamount not exceeding twenty
live per cent of the outstanding green
back circulation as redemption fund,
and excepting sums held for the re-.
demption of CON. be used to paw inter-
t"bearing obligations of the Govern.
ment. The majority of the committee
are bl-metal-lists and greenbackers. On
the 7th Director of the Mint Burchard
was before the committee. He thought
ltnexpedlent 1t to coin more silver until
there shall be all international agree
ment fixing the ratio between gold and
silver. His theory was that without an
international agreement as to the rela.
tive values OF the two coins a continu-
OF coinage and circulation by the United
States would tend to make this country
dumplng-grouDdf for the silver of all
nations, whereas gold would find it's way
out OF the country as fast as the imports
came in.
Counterfeiting has been on the wane
for the last four or five years, the efforts
OF the national government having al
most suppressed it. Every now and
then, however, an insulated coin is re-
ported, but the dies are at one taken
possession Of and the counterfe1ters
hustled of to tue penitentiary almost
before the news of his crime has become
current. A few days ago n detective
captured a whole gang of counterfeiters
operating LII safety, as they thought. in
the wilds of West Virginia. Their
whole outfit was captured with them.
and several OF them have already been
sent to the penitentiary. The fact.
however, OF the presence of a number
OF very dangerous silver CONS indicates
that some skllful men are at work at
some point, and very successfully. Their
operations in VenaDgo County and 1r
Philadelphia have been on large scale.
The coins range from a dime to a dollar.
The trade dollar OF 1877 and the Bland
dollar OF moro recent issue have been
seen recently, while minor coins of base
metal are plentiful. The coins are re-
markably well made and bear 80 close =
resemblance to the genuine that 1t would
take an expert to detect the difference.
Judging from weight. color and general
appearance. The easiest and almost
the only way they may be known is by
their lack OF the clear, silvery ring that
ls 30 familiar i'll the genuine when let
drop Oh some solid surface. By cutting
With sharp instrument the fraud may
be detected, for after penetrating the
outside coating, which is very thin, the
inside Is composed of different metal
ana ls more easily whitfield.
steel Pens In Gormany.
There is only one steel-pen manufac-
torp Ill Germany, that being in Berlin.