Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-10-19
HEADS AND TAILS.

plains q New Method or Knocking
DOwn-The Solid Man Beaten.
A well-known local solid man, with the
fair round belly Of an alderman and
bank account as long as his arm, says the
Cincinnati Enquirer, climbed aboard one
Of the cars Of the Elm street line at the
corner OF Fourth and Broadway, yester-
day morning. He settled himself with a
sigh Of satisfaction, and, after making his
gold-headed cane comfortably recumbent
beside him, proceeded to select a coin
from the jingling collection in his vest
pocket. He seemed to be fishing for some
one particular piece of money, and it was
only after five minutes search that he
finally hauled it out in triumph. He kept
his pudgy fist closed over il so tightly
that no one caught a glimpse Of the silver
until the conductor came around for fares,
then he passed it up to the knight Of the
bell-punch with the remark:
50 quarters worth Of tickets"
The small size and smooth edge Of the
coin gave it away. 1t was a 2O-cent piece.
The busy conductor balanced il between
finger and thumb FOR a minute while he
detached a string Of tickets from the pack
age in his pocket, and the solid man
seemed to be deeply engrossed in some
thing which was going on outside the car.
from the string, punched its handed the
remainder 10 the solid man, and passed
on TO the next victim. The solid man
smiled. His smile was broad and expan-
siye, and continued for five blocks. He
had done a good deed by cheating
bloated street car conductor out of
nickel and he knew il. The wild-eyed
STRIPPING in the next seat who had wit
messed the transaction did not view it in
the same light, and after the solid mans
c0mplacent smile had grown unbearable
he arose and walked out to the back plat
form.
THAT old duffer in the corner seat gave
you a 20-cent piece instead Of quarter a
few minutes ago. he said to the conduc-
tor.
Il know it."
Then why in blazes didn't you give it
back:"
Because it happens to be worth 81 75."
a pretty young woman, with lemon
cOlOred kid gloves and an unnecessary
profusiOn Of bangs, signaled for the car TO
stop, and after she had alighted the con-
ductOr went on:
81 have been running on the road for
several years now, and il is mighty hard
thing TO pass any plugged money or Scent
pieces, TO say nothing of 20-centers,
on an old-time street car man. We per-
sonally lose all the bad money that is
passed on US. and after the first week or
two we make mighty few mistakes. The
old gentleman inside gave himself away
IN the beginning by lingering about in his
pocket so long. When 1 see a passenger
40Oh.ng over his stock of small change for
some particular coin, am on to him at
once. He is generally selecting plugged
quarter to pass on me, but he never suo-
ceeds. Now, that 2Qcent pier-. dodge
was the clumsiest that ! ever saw PLAYED,
and If the date or. the piece had not hap
pened 10 each my eye, 1 should certainly
nave gwen the old gentleman red-hOt
eh-ce Of my mind"
''what has the date to do with the
matter:"
at makes a difference Of 81 50 in the
value of silver. The piece is in good
state Of preservation, and is dated 1877.
Twenty-cent pieces of 1877 and 1878 are
worth from 81 TO 81 each, according to
their condition"
The STRIPPING opened his eyes tritie
wider than usual, and made few short
hand hierOglyphIcs on his shirt cuff.
''WhO will pay from 81 to 81 apiece for
them: - he asked.
ANY coin dealer. They are in great
demand among numismatists, and are
comparatively rare. / am a numisma-
fist myself, on a small scale, and by the
help Of the science manage to knock
down about s. a week out Of the money
running any risk from the spoilers"
in what wayT
ssMerely by watching the dates on the
coins that pass through my fingers. If l
was a bankers clerk, / will guarantee
that l could make $500 every year that
lived by spOtting and selling rare coins.
There are thousands Of them in daily cir
culation, and there is scarcely person
living who has not handled copper, silver
and gold worth ten and sometimes hum
dred times its face value, merely because
it happens to be rare piece.
"NOw suppose, for instance, in making
q bargain downtown a man should hand
you a silver dollar dated 1874. You might
possibly keep that dollar in your pocket
Tor few days or few weeks on account
of its age; but the chances are ten to one
that YOU would presently become hard up
and let the dollar go for its face value. IL
that same piece came into my hands l
would freeze to it, and the first time that
/ got an hour off would slip around to
rare coin-dealer, and if the dollar was bat
little worn how much do you think
would ask for it?'
''Give il up"
twenty-five fat, round, solid dollars.
The silver dollar Of 1894 was the first one
issued by the United States Government
and first saw the light in the latter part Of
October of that year. There were "a, 600 of
them coined; and no matter how badly
they may be rubbed, if the date is deci-
pherable they will bring $40 a piece to-
day; good ones will bring at least $2j, but
they are scarce as white blackbirds.
SAGE alone does not by any means
make coins universally valuable, as you
NAV understand when l tell YOU that
while a 1875 dollar is never worth more
than 50, dollars of 1858 will very often
bring s. apiece. Here is three line table
which practically contains the dates and
values Of all the rare United States silver
dollars which may be in circulation:
Dollars Of 1924 are worth each go.
Dollars Of 1895, ISIS, 1859. IS5l.lS5i,
Dollars IITsSS Of 1926 to ISos, inclusive, "
and 1855 and 1856 ..-.-.........-. 20 to ?
ssIf L ever get hold Of a silver dollar of
1904 / mean TO retire from the platform
and open a cigar store. That coin is
worth $500. You had better make a note of
the date and paste it in your hat. There
is no knowing when you may come across
il.
ssBut the whole business is not bound
up in dollars by any means. The big cop
per cents Of 1898, 1893 and 1904 are worth
from 81 to SO apiece. The 1875 cent was
the first one issued, and is mainly valu-
bic on that account; but the cent of 1893
owes its extraordinary premium TO the
fact that most Of the issue OF that year
was bought up by a shrewd old Puritan
and shipped 10 Africa, where he bored
holes in them and sold them as ear and
nose rings to the negroes for a thousand
times their value in ivory, ebony wood,
etc.
Il see by your face that you don't believe
that story; but is none the less true-iust
as true is the fact that there were 9O4, 5S4
Of them used that year, according to the
statement Of the United States mint.
got fooled on copper cent about a year
ago. and it makes me mad now TO think
OF il. \ lady rendered me four big cop
pers and little one in payment for a fare.
The minute l clapped eyes on one of the
big ones i saw that il was a very old
timer, and when l made out the date,
1879, YOU could have knocked me of the
car with a feather.
i laid of next week, skipped around
to the coin dealers, slammed the big beau
to down on the counter, and sung out,
u will take about 81 for that copper
the dealer did not say anything. He
picked II up, elapped a magnitying glass
on his eye, and after looking at the date
for about i've minutes he quietly re-
marked: You get out Of here mighty
quick, or III put policeman onto yOu.'
swell. sir, the whole trouble was Oc.
casiOued by the fact that some one had
altered the date OF that cent from I79S to