St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-11-27
Bills That Are Three-FifthS
Preserved Redeemed With
out Question.
But Only Half Value Is Al
lowed for Those Two
FifthS Good.
Gold Coins That Have Lost
One Per Cent Received
by Weight.

worn, Clipped and defaced coins?
Greenbacks and paper currency OF the
various kinds have acertain life, which,
being ended, their days of usefulness
are considered past, and they are then
Withdrawn from circulation by the
treasury department and fresh and
crisp new bills take their place. The
average life of bank note or govern
ment note is matter hard To de
termine. This depends entirely upon the
hands into which it falls and the num-
Der of times it is passed out into circu-
latiOn. Should it come into the posses
sion of a miSer and go into his strong
box, its life would be. of course, much
longer than if in steady use, but upon
an average note is in circulation only
six or seven years. Bills of small de-
nomination, ones, tWOS, tiveS and tens,
are, of course, worn out more quickly
than those of larger amount. y $50 bill
would be carefully folded and put in
pOckethoOk where one would be crum-
pied up and go into the vest pocket
along with the metal coins.
Under the rulings of the treasury
department all SubtreasuriPS and deSig-
mated Repositories of the United States
are required to lay aside all currency
that has become worn TO any great de-
gree and forward the same TO the de-
partment in Washington. This is at
once sorted as to issue and denOmina-
ton and a proper return made to the
sender. All national bank notes are
separated from the others and when
sufficient amount is collected it is re-
turned to the bank issuing the same and
il 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
tr eaSury department at Washington
and the institution is given credit tor
the amount.
All money of this character, when
withdrawn from circulation, is de-
StrOyed. First the issue, the denOmina-
ton and the number and class are care
fully noted in books kept for that pur-
pose. and in the presence of officials
named for this duty the notes are
thrown into a macerating machine, and
the whole cut into the smallest possible
pieces. After they have heen so
thoroughly marerated as to preclude
even the possibility of their being put
together again, the residue is sold to
firm in Washington who press it under
hydraulic pressure into Odd-Shaped little
trinkeIS 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
accident a parcel of bank bills is but
partially destroyed. An end may be
charred off in fire or in hundred
ways bill may be made unfit for circu
latiOn. Should three-ffths of the Or
iginal bill lie preserved, this may be
sent to the treasurer, and it will be re-
deemed without question; but when
there is less than three-fiftls, but clear
ly more than twO-fifthS of the original
proportion remaining, they are redeem
able by the United States treasurer only
at One-half the face value of the whole
note.
Should there be a loss of more than
two-ffthS of the entire bill the treasurer
will redeem the same at face value it
the fragments are accompanied by an
affidavit of the owner or of other per-
sons having knowledge that the missing
ing portions have been totally destroyed.
The treasurer, of course, exercises his
discretion in the redemption of mutt
lated currency so as to project the gov
eminent against fraud, and one of his
rulings in this regard is that all dffidaVitS
shall be sworn to before a notary
public. the person whose signature APP
pears on the instrument making oath
that the statements are all true. Should
the treasurer decide that the evidence
is not sufficient to protect the govern
ment against fraud, he will refuse to
redeem the fragments and will return
the pieces to the owner. All SubtreaS-
uries are authorized to redeem all notes
which contain not less than thTee-fifthS
of the original bill. The cOnsignee
must pay the cost of transportation for
the return of the sum allowed in the re-
deeming of defaced or mutilated money
of any character.
WORN COIN.
Silver money has an obvious advan-
tage over gold coin, in that the former
is Tedeemable. no matter the amount of
abrasion that may appear, while gold
coin that has lost more than l per cent
through abrasion is considered mutt
lated 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 cap
ital ''L," denOting that the piece is
deficient in value. With silver
coin, although it may be worn
perfectly smooth, if it shows no evil
dence of having been tempered with, it
will be redeemed at face value. All
minor coins made of the baser metals,
5, 8. 2 and 1-cent pieces, are redeemable
if they are not so defaced as to be read
lily identified. These rulings are made
by the treasury department. and not
being part of any act OF c. n .reSS they
may be changed at any time, when one
treasurer takes different view of the
matter from that of his predecessor.
Foreign money, either in specie or in
currency. is never received at the treas
ury 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 the same to brokers who
make a business of this, and whose
charges for exchanges are very small.
OLD MONEY IN CIRCULATION.
There is in circulation at present pa
per money of the issue of 1861 and '63
in a good state of preservation, but this
has, no doubt, been boarded up. AS
fast as this reaches the banks it is laid
to one side and forwarded to the treas
ury. All banks retain bills coming into
their hands III the regular run of bust
ness which are not fit for circulation,
and when sufficient amount to make
1t worth while is received it is sent to
Washington for redemption. With
many banks these remittanceS are made
twice each year.
ALI persons handbag money are of
course constantly on the lookout for
counterfeit money. There is little
chance for counterfeit money to remain
long in circulation, as the practiced eye
of those who handle any great amount
will detect at a glance whether money
is spurious of genuine. No matter how
carefully it may be prepared, there is
sure to be some defect that can be no
ticed. In one there Is discrepancy in
size, either too large or too small, in
others the scroll work is imperfect, this
being one of the most noticeable feat
ures about the majority of counter