Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-03-30
A NECESSARY EVIL.
Important Functions Performed by the
Much Despised Cent.

mucn- OespIseu CENT
That smallest of American coins, the
Ubiquitous cent, alike incapable individu-
ally of exciting the greed of the counter
feiter or of stimulating the coyetousness
of the ordinary citizen, says the Boston
Globe, has, despite its despised paltriness,
swelled in the aggregate to enormous pro-
portions. Since the time of James Jarvis
of New Haven, who, in the year 1857,
coined the first American cent, the manu-
facture of this bit of legal tender has gone
on internationally until there have been
sent out, under the orders of the Treasury
Department, considerably over 600, 600
American cents. In other words, there
have been circulated in the United States
more than $4,000, 600 worth of this coin.
The cent has not always been what it is
to-day. While the total has been growing
to such enormous proportions, the single
coin has, in Difference to public convent
ence, been getting smaller and smaller.
Many people still remember the unwieldly
size of the Old-fashiOned "copper" which
prevailed in our grandfathers' time; but
even that was less bulky article Of cir
culatiOn than its predecessors of the same
value. The difference between the James
Jarvis cent and the cent Of to-day is the
difference in size and weight between 264
I :
"copper"" the coinage of which was dis
continued in 1857 after 1882, SS7 worth
had been made, only weighed 16S grains.
1t will be seen by this that the cent Of the
younger days of the republic was not far
from requiring the services of a dOg-cart
for It's transportation. Our present bronze
cent, which began to be issued in 1864,
and is 50 per cent. of copper and ) per
cent. of tin and zinc, has reached a circu-
lation of over $2,000,000.
The cent enjoys the distinction among
| coins, in common with the silver dollar,
of being profitable to the government
which Issues it. For every dollar made
the United States makes thirteen cents,
and the profit is so great on Tue sma44I.
coin that it is sent in kegs from the mint
! absolutely free of express charges. On
all other coins something like 81 on every
$1,000 Is paid by the banks for transporta-
ton.
In these days the cent has come to be a
nuisance to some business men and an in
convenient scarcity to others. This latter
fact alone accounts for its long-continued
existence and its present colossal total.
The cashier of large daily paper, to say
nothing of the treasurer of a horse car
company, receives regularly a mass of
this metal, which it is difficult to dispose
Of. Ii is, In fact, made an article of mer-
I chandise. 1t is done up in fitty-cent pack
ages and kept on sale. 1t is bought by the
retail stores, the managers of which,
when they find themselves running short
OF such change, send out and buy it by
the quantity. Were it not for the enOr-
nous quantity OF cents required daily TO
make change in some of our large dry
goods stores, the disposal of this accumd-
lation of small coin would be serious
problem for those who are obliged to take
a great quantity of it. AS it IS, the cent
is regarded as an unmistakable nuisance
by certain classes of business men. But,
like great many other nuisances, it APP
pears to be a necessary and Gnalterable
one. There are, however, some parts of
this broad country where the small coin
is so despised that it does not circulate,
and it is related that in certain Western
city the man who wanted to start large
daily which sells tor few cents per copy
was obliged to import several barrels Of
cents into the community before he could
bpUin