The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-10-24
MUqssIAFED MONEY.
How, whehh mt ana Where it ia Re-
20 OF deeaxf4disr.
From fhe St.7LqsevRep1sblic.

From fhe St7kqt7s VRepltbtic-
What becomes of the old, ragged, dirty
and torn paper money and the worn,
Clipped and g. detaced coinsa Greenbacks
and paper currency of the various kinds
have q certain life, which, being ended,
their days Of usefulness are considered
past. and they are then withdrawn from
circulation by 9tie treasury department
and fresh and crisp new bills take their
place. The average life Of bank-note or
government NOTE Is a matter hard to de-
termine. This depends entirely upon the
hands into whieititfalls and the number of
times it is passed out into circulation.
Should it come into the possession of a
miser and 90 into his strong box, its life
would be, Of course, much longer than if in
steady use. but uoon an average note is in
circulation only six or seven years. Bills
of small denominations, ones, twos, fives
and tens, are of course, worn out more
quickly than those of larger amount. A
$50 bill would be carefully folded and put
into. a pocket-book, where a one would be
crumpled up and go into the vest pocket
along with the metal coin.
Under the rulings of The treasury de-
partment all subtreasuries and deslgnased
repositories of the United States are re-
quired to lay aside all currency that has be-
come worn to any great degree and forward
the same to the department in Washing
ton. This is at once sorted as to the issue
and denomination and a proper return
made to the sender. All national bank
notes are separated from the others and
when a sufficient amount is collected it is
returned to the bank issuing the same and it
is left to their discretion whether the bills
shall again be put in circulation or not, and
if the officials of the bank think the notes
too badly worn to again be put afioat they
are returned again to the treasury depart
ment at Washington and the institution is
given credit for the amount.
All money of this character, when with
drawn from circulation, is destroyed. First
the issue, the denomination and the number
and class are carefully noted in books kept
Tor that purpose, and in the presence of
officials named for this duty the notes are
thrown into macerating machine, and the
whole cut into the smallest possible pieces.
After they have been so thoroughly mace
rated as to preclude even the posi-
bility of their being put together again. the
residue is sold to firm in Washington who
press it under hydraulic pressure into odd
shaped little trlnkets and charms which are
sold to curiosity seekers who delight in the
possession OF an article which may have
represented thousands of dollars at some
previous stage of its usefulness.
1t is frequently the case that in some ac-
cident parcel of bank bills is but parti-
ally destroyed. An end may be charred off
in fire or in hundred ways a bill may be
made unfit for circulation. Should three
tifths of the original bill be preserved this
may be sent TO the treasurer, and it will be
redeemed without question, but when there
is less than three-titthS, but clearly more
than two-fifths of the original proportion
remaining, they are redeemable by the
United States Treasurer only at one-half
the face value of the whole note
Should there be loss of more than two
fifths of the entire bill the Treasurer will
redeem the same a. face value if the frag-
ments are accompanied by an affidavit of
the owner or. of other persons having
knowledge that the missing portions have
been totally DESTROYED. The treasurer. of
course, exercises his discretion in the re-
demption Of mutilated currency so as to
protect the goyerqssaent against fraud, and
one OF his rulingsA this regard is that all
aftidavits shall hS e@orn to before a notary
public. the perasn whose signature appears
on the instrument making oath that the
statements are al tFle Should the treas
urer decide thatIth8 evidence is not suffi-
clent to protect The government against
fraud, he will Eafnsessto redeem the frae-
ments and wilh Het#n the pieces to the
owner. All SubtreasurieS are authorized to
redeem all notes which ontain not less than
three-hfths of the original bill The con-
signee must pay the cost of transportation
for the return of the sum allowed in tie
redeeming Of defaced OF mutilated money
OF any characteEss Won zzAsw
WORN COIN.
Silver money has an obvious advantage
over gold coin, in, THAT thezformer is re-
deemable no matter the amount of abrasion
that may appear, while gold coin that has
lost more than l per cent through abrasion
is considered mutilated and is receivable for
only the actual value by weight. The gold
coins coming into banks or to the sub
treasures when found light in weight are
stamped on both sides with the capital
"L, }" denoting that the piece is deficient in
value. Win silver coin, although it may
be worn perfectly smooth, if it shows no
evidence of having been tempered with, it
will be redeemed at face value. All minor
coins made of the baser metals, s. 3, 2 and
l-cent pieces, and are redeemable If they are
not so defaced as to be readily identified.
These rulings are made by the treasury
department, and not being a part of any
act of congress they may be changed at
any time, when ono treasurer takes a diff
ferent view Of the matter from that Of his
predecessor.
Foreign money, either in specie or in cur
rency, is never received at the treasury
department or any of its branches, and very
few will take anything but legal money Of
the United States Persons having any
foreign money can always dispose of tue
same to brokers who make a business or
this, and whose charges for exchange are
very small
OLD MONEY IN CIRCULATION.
There is in circulation at present paper
money Of the issue of 1861 and '03 in a good
state Of preservation, but this has, no
doubt, been boarded up. As fast as this
reaches tho banks IL is laid 10 ono side and
forwarded % the Treasury. All banks re-
tain bills coming into their hands In the
regular run Of business, which are not 1T
for circulation, and when a sufficient
amount ~ make IL worth while ls received
Il Is sent 10 Washington for redemption.
With many banks these remittancas ero
made twice each year.
Al 20 sons handling monoy are % course
eHist shtiy On fhe lookout for counterfeit
m0uey. TnnFe IL little ehancs for coaatsf-
far biils ~ feaiaiu louR iu circulation. a.