Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-03-25

much shorter time. It costs England $l0O, ,00O year to keep her sovereigns In good order, and that was one of the rec. sons why the report went forth that the Bank of England proposed issuing e1 notes. come across pieces once in awhile that have had an existence oi half century or more, and look as fresh and bright as if they had been issued but yesterday. Hero is $2.5O piece that was turned out in 1926 that has not yet lost its polish. It is a very rare coin and is worth at auction $2O. It proba- bly belonged to some one who kept 1t aS a relic or in remembrance of some dear friend, or it may have fallen into crack and remained for years in it's place of concealment, or until the march of i'm provement brought 1t to light. Some times thief robs a 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 sub-treasuries, where their career is again stopped, as we are always on the alert to catch these choice mintages.'
 "When you receive coin deposit how do you guard against loss to the Gov ernment?"
 ''The redemption clerk first takes it 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 commercials are cut in halves; and, in fact, all pieces which are not fiji 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 tho rejected coin, and after he has paid back a like amount in perfect money we square 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 profit. and will deduct about 10 per cent. for their commission. don't uphold the Government in com 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 ot determining it's truo value."
 ''Do you receive many counterfeits?" 'It is very rarely we find one. You see, tho banks have experts, and in counting and examining their gold de- Iuo spurious pleCoS are ucGoCIcU 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- tions, which shows that they handle their specie deposits with great care."
 "If the Treasury found a counterfeit in lot of gold sent from here, upon whom would tho loss fall?'
 "Your humble servant. I would also be called upon to mako good any short age found by tho experts who come around once q year and count our stock If one of tho vault clerks felt so dis posed he could ruin mo by abstracting a portion of one of tho bags, as l am held strictly responsible for their con. tents at all times. It is impossible for tho Government to losc a cent through the carelessness of it's subordinates." gold coinage?"
 The first return of gold coins from the chief coiner was on the 31st day of July, 1795, and consisted of 744 half eagles. The first delivery of eagles was on tho 22d of Septcmber 1795, and con- sisted of 400 pieces. Tho double eagle was authorized to be coined March 8, 1s4o; tho eagle, April 9, 1792; half eagle, April ?, 1792; $3 pieces, February 21, 1858; quarter eagle, April 2, 1792; $1 piece, March 8, 1e49. There is mys- tery connected with the half eagle of 1901, and eminent numismatologists are at variance in their histories on the coinage of the country. It is claimed by one authority that no half eagles of that year were struck, while others are positive that the Government minted 26, 900 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 1891. 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, a 4O-cent, 8 quarter dollar and a 2O-cent piece. The Mormons also put out peculiar piece, having the value of $s, and the legend on the obverse: "To the Lord Holiness " Georgia and North Carolina have also done little in the gold-coinage line. The former State in 1s49 issued piece worth S2.s7, while the latter coined g dollar that was worth but eS cents,"
 Washingtons Punctuality.
 Washington had many admirable %ro;&o 1yor+bv Cf imitation and oro