The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1891-01-22
CARLOADS OF COIN.
Twenty-Seven Freight Cars Filled
With Silver.
That Is the Amount There Would Rei
Were Ten Million Dollars in Half
Dollars, Quarters and Dimcsto
Ee Transported by Rail.

'IIow many wagon loads of silver
would those New York bankers get II
they sell the Treasury ten million dol
lars worth of bonds and take their pay
in subsidiary silver coin, as they are re-
ported likely to do?" soid the Washing
ton correspondent of the Jacksonvilie
Times Union, to an official of the mint
bureau.
"Wagon loads, young man? You don't
propose to measure ten million dolilr.i'
worth of silver by wagon loads. do
youp"
"Why not?'
because there is too much of it. A
wagon load would not figure in calcu-
lating the weight of ten million dollars
in silver"
Of it weigh?"
'Only twenty-seven TONS" was the
smiling reply. "If it was in silver dol
lars it would weigh thirty tons, but in
subsidiary silver coin it would weigh
twenty-seven tons and little over
twenty-seven and half tons in round
numbers"
"How does it come that subsidiary
coin weighs less to the dollar than tho
silver dollars?"
"The subsidiary silver coin used to be
exactly equal to the dollar. That is to
say, two fifty-cent pieces or four quar-
ters, originally weighed the same as one
silver dollar, but, away back in the fif-
ties, slight change was made in the
weight of the dollar, and of the sub
sidiary coin also, and when the dollar
was changed back to its present stand
changed"
''Then according to your figures it
would require something more than a
horse and cart to transport the S10,000,-
900 of half dollars, quarters and dimes
to New York in case the New. York
bankers come down with their S10,000,-
900 of bonds and take small change in
pay for them as they are reported like
ly to do?"
"Well, slightly The $4,000, 600 Of
silver would weigh 275 tons, which
means, of course, 81 carloads. A pref
ty good freight train that would be
with 81 cars loaded with silver"
Sand suppose it were in dollars?"
"Then the $4,000, 900 would weigh
300 tons instead of 275, and would add
two or three more cars to the train"
Suppose the $40, ,00O, 900 were in gold
instead of silver, what would it weigh
them"
about 81, 900 pounds, or, in a general
way, it would make two carloads. One
million dollars in gold coin weighs S,6s6
pounds, while in silver dollars, as have
said, it weighs thirty TONS" o
Suppose they were to take their ten
millions in nickels, how much would it
weigh then?"
"Wen, $1,000 in nickels weighs 220
pounds. At that rate 1000, 600 would
weigh 220, 900 pounds, SO that by brief
calculation you will find that to trans
port SIC, ,OO0, 900 in nickels would take q
train of cars numbering considerably
over 100, or, in other words, train
about half mile long"
"And to follow this interesting ques-
ton to it's last step, what is the weight
of 81 200 or 81, 900, 900 in pennies?"
"The weight Of $1,000 in pennies is
6s5 pounds, and $1,O00,000, of course,
would be 6s5,OOO pounds. To trans
port 10000, 900 in pennies would require
ABOUT ooU cars, Or make UTaln cOuplo
of miles long"
just below the windows of the mint
bureau is large asphalted surface,
| looking like a section of Pennsylvania
avenue, which has bobbed up in the area
inside of the Treasury building. 1t is the
| upper surface of the covering of the
huge vault built few years ago for the
deposit of silver dollars and other coin
held by the Treasury Department. This
vault, with the others belonging to tho
Treasurer's office, has in it about $780,
100000 in silver and gold coin, the total
weight of which is calculated to be
about 4,sOO tons, or sufficient to load q
train of cars about two and half miles
in length. To carry out this interesting
calculation one step farther, it might
be added that the Director of the Mint IN
his recent report calculates the amount
lof metallic money In the United States
at the close Of the last fiscal year
to have been $685.. 1000, 900 In gold and
S463, 900, 900 in silver, which, upon the
basis of weight indicated in the above
conversation, would be 1880 tons of
gold and 1896 tons of silver. A pretty
good load for the American people to
carry around in their pockets, which Is
| another evidence that we are n GREAT