The Irish standard., 1890-04-26

I q much shorter time. 1t costs England
| 800, 900 a year to keep her sovereigDa s. =
! good order, and that was one Of the res,
sons why the report went forth that the
Bank of England proposed issuing 81
notes. come across pieces once in
awhile that have had an existence OF
half century or more. and look as fresh
and bright as If they had been issued but
yesterday. Here is $3.50 piece that
was turned out in 1926 that has not yet
lost it's polish. 1t is q very rare coin
and is worth at auction $40. 1t proba-
bly, belonged to some one who kept it as
relic or in remembrance OF some dear
friend, or it may have fallen into crack
and remained for years i1 its place OF
concealment, or until the march of i'm
provement brought it to light. Some
times thief robs Crank of his treas
ure and disposes of the rare and almost
worshiped coins at their face value.
Eventually they find their way into the
treasures, where their career is
again stopped, as we are always on the
alert to catch these choice mintages."
'When you receive coin deposit how
J do you guard against loss to the Gov
ernment?''
''The redemption clerk first takes 1t
and gives receipt for the amount the
bag is said to contain. Then it is count
ed. All the light pieces are thrown to
! one side and so stamped across their
face. The counterfeits are cut in
halves; and, in fact, all pieces which
are not fit to place again in circulation
! are deducted from the original sum
brought here. When the owner comes
to get his receipt cashed he is given all
the rejected coin, and after he has paid
back a like amount in perfect money
we SO uare up with him. The light
pieces are worth their bullion value, and
if they are sent to the mint at Phila~
delphia their exact worth is returned
to the owner. Sometimes they are
taken to broker, but. of COURSE, they
have to make a profit, and will DEDUCT
about 10 per cent. for their commission.
don't uphold the Government in CON-
polling person to stand losses OF this
kind. The people with whom this coin
circulates take it in good faith, and
they have no means of determining its
true value.''
''Do you receive many counterfelts?'
cit is very rarely we find one. You
see, the banks have experts, and in
counting and examining their gold de-
posts the spurious pieces are detected
and thrown out. It has to be an ex-
cellent imitation to slip past the keen
eyed counters. We have never re-
ceived single counterfeit gold coin
from the leading local banking institu-
tons, which shows that they handle
their specie deposits with great care:
| eff the Treasury found counterfeit
: in q lot of gold sent from here, upon
whom would the loss fall?''
''Your humble servant. would also
be called upon to make good any short
age found by the experts who come
around once a year and count our stock
Ii one of the vault clerks felt so dis"
posed he could ruin me by abstracting
portion of one Of the bags, as I am
held strictly responsible for their con-
tents at all times. 1t is impossible for
the Government to lose a cent through
the carelessness Of it's subordinates."
'When did the Government begin it's
gold coinage?"
The first return Of gold coins from
the chief coiner was on the 31st day OF
July, 1895, and consisted Of IA half
eagles. The first delivery of eagles was
on the 22d of Septem Der. 1875, and con-
sisted of 400 pieces. The double eagle
was authorized to be coined March 3,
1s49; the eagle, April 2, 1892; half eagle,
! April Q, 1892; IS pieces, February 81.
1858; quarter eagle, April Q, 1892; 81
piece, March 3, 1849. There is 1nys-
terry connected with the half eagle OF
1901, and eminent numismatologists are
at variance in their histories on: the
coinage of the country. 1t is claimed
bv one authority that no half eagles OF
that year were struck, while others are
positive that the Government minted
5000 of the pieces, and that they were
all sent to Tripoli to pay the United
States sailors who were subjugating the
Bashaw of that country. The fact re-
! mains, however, that the collection Of
coins in the mint at Philadelphia con-
tains no specimen Of the half eagle Of
1901. There have been large number
of private gold coins issued since the
establishment of the Government, prin-
cipal among which is the eight-cor-
nered quintuple eagle, valued at $50.
In the private coinage of California
there was half-dollar, Accent, a
quarterdoll and 2Ocent piece. The
Mormons also put outa peculiar piece,
having the value of IS, and the legend
on the DIVERSE: ''To the Lord Holm ess."
! Georgia and North Carolina have also
done little in the gold-coinage line.
| The former State in 1S49 issued a piece
| worth 81. 81, while the latter coined
I! dollar that was worth but 90 cents. -
Washington's PunctuaHty.
Washington had many admirable
| trai ts wnrthu of i1ni tatiOn. and Ona