Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1890-01-29
NOT ENOUGH PENNIES.
Tao Treasury Unable to Meet the
Demand for Them.
Over 700. .o00, 900 0ne-Cent Pieces Nov
In Actual Circulation-One Of Uncle
Sans Profitable Investmenfs-
Facts About Nickels.

The penny famine Is becoming quite
alarming. Demands for pennies and
nickels and dimes pour In from all al.
rections upon the Treasury until the Of
ficials are nearly ready to go wild over
the inability TO meet these demands.
81 can not understand it, said Q prom
inent official Of the Mint Bureau, talk
ing to Chicago Journal correspondent
about 1t. 1--WE are coming millions Of
pennies every year, one year after an
other, and sending them all over the
country, and yet the demand continues
for them, and seems to increase rather
than decrease. During the past twenty
Ave years we have coined from twenty
to thirty million of pennies q year, and
yet the demand for them goes on all the
time. A penny is q thing that does NOT
wear out very fast and that people do
not destroy either by melting 1t up, as
might be the case with silver coin, or by
any other process. can not imagine
what becomes Of them"
"How many do you suppose there are
In the country?"
THAT Is pretty hard to say. The
mints have coined. since they were
established In 1893, 500, 600, 900 Of
pennies. Up to the time Of the war the
number Of pennies coined within a
year did not usually run over 5000, 900
or 5000, 600. From 1860 there was n
marked increase, and nearly every year
from that time the number has run up
from 10000, 900 to 10000, 900 and 4o,I
OOO. 600 and sometimes as high as Co.
600, 600 In q year" -
Where does the demand for them
come from?"
1T Is scattered pretty we'll over
the country now. Formerly there was
practically no demand from the South,
out within the past few years they
have taken to using them. as far South
as Louisiana, and even In the West,
where there used to be no demand for
them st all. they are now being called
Tor, Last year we sent 1877, 600 of them
TO Alabama, 100, 900 to Arkansas, 81, 900
to California, $50, 900 to Georgia, 60, 600 to
Louisiana, 200, 900 to North Carolina, le6,-
600 to South Carolina, 26o, 900 to Ten
nessee, and 80 on. The demand for
nickels South Ia also very considerable
now and 1t Is no uncommon thing to
send SIS, 900 or $40, 900 worth of nickles
to Southern State within q year"
"How many pennies and other minor
coins do you suppose are in circulation
now?"
There must be over 700, ,0oo. 600 of
pennies. And as said few minutes
ago, there have been over 800, 600, 900 of
pennies coined by the mint, but about
100, ,OOo, 900 redeemed and remelted. The
old copper cents, which were so large
and so burdensome, have many of them
been redeemed under the act of 1871
and have been remelted. The number
OF those originally issued was over 15O,-
100000. and about 81, 600, 900 have been
remelted, leaving about 120, 600, 900 still
outstanding. Where In the world thew
are can not imagine, for you very sell
DOM see one of the old large size copper
cents in circulation now Then there
was an act of Congress authorizing the
redeeming and remelting Of the old
nickel 1-cent pieces, which were issued
later, and we have redeemed and re-
melted about rs, ,OO0, 900 of those, leaving
about 5000, 900 Of them still afioar.
Then there are about 500, 900, 900 of the
bronze 1-cent coins now in circulation.
There are about also 60, ,000, coo of bronze
OOO, 600 OF nickel Scent pieces still un-
accounted for and presumably still In
circulation"
What about the nickel scent pieces?".
There are pretty nearly 200, ,OO0, 600
OF those In circulation. 1t is curious,
with 700. 900, 900 of pennies, 300, 900, 900
OF nickels and 0,O00, 900 Of and Scent
pieces in circulation, that the demand
still continues as it does. But the pecole
are clamoring for them everywhere. Tho
demand Is usually the greatest ETEis
time Of the year, but 1t ~ even Ier
than usual now"
Where ara the pennies and 1-~kels
made2a
"At the Philadelphia mint exclusively.
We buy the blanks from parties who
manufacture them for us and they are.
stamped at the mint. We have bought
in the year just ended 875, 900 pounds of
blanks for the i-cenr bronze pieces and
lOo,OO pounds OF nickel blanks for the
6-cent pieces"
"Whst do these blank pieces cost the
Governmente'
FFhe bronze pieces for pennies cost
about 50 cents q pound and the 6-oent
pieces cost 42 cents pound"
Then you make some money on these
when you issue them as and S-oent
pieces?"
"Yes; we get 145 pennies IN q pound
OF the bronze metal and el pieces in q
pound Of the nickel"
so you get Sl.45 worth Of pennies
from the material which costs you
IS cents a pound. do you2"
practically that, yes. OF course, Il
costs something to stamp the pennies at
the mint. We make q greater profit.
however, on the scent pieces, for we
get 90 OF those out of a pound of metal,
ana they go As scent pieces; we get
$3.50 worth of them for a pound of
metal, which costs us a trifie over -
centa,"