The Irish standard., 1890-04-26
ABOUT GOLD COINS.
Facts Concerning Them of Interest
to Every Body.
The Hands omest-Loss by Wearing Away
The Average Life-Counterfeits-
Brief History of Gold Coin
age in This Country.

The Handsomest-1oss by Wearing Away
| The Average Life-Counterfeits-
| Brief History of Gold Coin
| age in This Country.
! Coin Clerk Vassar sat in his little
wire-work cage at the sub-treasury re-
Gently. To the left of him and to the
right of him, and, in fact, all about him,
were stacks of yellow, glistening coin.
They were the deposits of the day, and
had come in from the banks which had
become overburdened with the precious
In a big brass scoop were many hum
dreds of is pieces, which, after
being carefully weighed, were dumped
in a white canvas bag, the mouth Sc
curely fastened with a heavy hempen
cord, and then taken to one of the
vaults. where they were to remain until
wanted for commercial purposes. Per-
baps they might lie for twenty years, if
there was no extraordinary demand for
gold.
"What is the handsomest coin made?"
inquired the Boston Herald investi1
gator.
"Well, I should say the American
| double eagle. Of course don't see all
the coins of the earth here, as we are
not allowed to receive those of foreign
countries, but as far as my experience
goes I place our $40 gold piece at
the head of all others for beauty
Of design; in fact, all the gold coinage
is handsome money. The Government
| i Il NJ ,f fn 0t-
ing it. The metal is FURNISHED to per-
lection. and if g. sheet Of it were hung
up in your bedroom it would serve all
the purposes of a mirror. From these
sheets the disks, or planchettes, as they
are technically known, are stamped,
after which they are placed under the
dies and receive the pattern of the piece
they are to represent. Sometimes we
get one or two of these blanks, which
have escaped the operator, in an invoice
| of gold from the mint"
| "When is a coin unfit for circula-
| tion?'
II will take $40 piece to aid
me in answering that question. The
Government provides that all coins
of this denomination shall weigh 516
grains when they leave the mint, and
will receive them SO long as they tip
the scales at 513.42 grains. This is the
limit of federation, or mi nimum weight.
The Government is willing to stand this
loss, which means about nine cents on
double eagle. 1t is the practice, be-
lieve, in some of the sub-treasuries to
pay out coins of this weight, but we
have made it rule here not to again
place them in circulation, as it would
| take but very short time to wear them
down below the minimum, and the
holder would then have to dispose of
them at their bullion value. We have
now on deposit 100000 of minimum
weight coins, some of which have been
in our keeping for the past decade await
ing an appropriation by Congress that
will admit of their being melted up and
restamped. There is another class of
| coins that is never paid out, it being
known as cad pieces. They are the re-
| suit of imperfect metal, and are abso~
lutely without sound. People who get
hold Of them run here to find out
whether they have been swindled, as
they believe the value of metal money
depends upon it's ring"
| "What is the loss to the Government
on it's gold coinage?'
"About one quarter of one per cent, or
81. SO on $1,000"
s"There is popular fallacy that gold
is not counted by the Governments
! sIt is not only counted, but every
piece is carefully inspected. We could
not go by weight, as there are many
plugged pieces, and sometimes coun-
| terfeit finds it's way here which is up to
! weight"
"What is the finest gold counterfeit
| you have ever SEEM?
cit was S. piece. remember receiv-
| ing one of them from Portland bank
and sending it back for a good one.
They claimed I had made a very big
error, and were very enthusiastic in
their criticism of this office. The piece
was finally forwarded to Washington
| and, after careful examination of it,
was sustained. The Portland bank sent
an apology to me for it's hasty action.
! The piece was one of a number issued
| in 1872. and bore the imprint of the Car
| son City mint. 1t contained 1919 grains
| of gold and was 10 karat fine instead Of
%, the legal standard of fneness, and
| was worth just $4.43. The other ingre.
dents were silver, copper and platinum
The mystery to me is how they made
the business pay. The counterfeitina
| of gold coin in this country began in
| 1900 and has continued until the presen
day"
ssWhat is the life of gold coin?'
| ssAbout thirty years in the United
States, but in England and other coun
tries, where it is largely used by the
| neonle as a medium of exchange, it lasti