Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1891-01-17
CARLOADS OF COIN.
That II the Amount Thoro Would B0
d: Wero Ten Million DOllara In Half
Dollars Quarters and Dlmeat0
DO transported by Rail.


would those New York bankers get if
they sell the Treasury ten million dol
lars worth of bonds and take their paw
IN subsidiary silver coin, as they are re-
ported likely to do?" said the Washing
ton correspondent of the Jacksonville
Times Union, to an official of the mint
bureau.
wagon loads, young man? You don't
propose to measure ten million dollars
worth OF silver by wagon loads, do
You?"
= "Why notP'"
because there is too much Of it. A
wagon load would not figure in calcu-
lating the weight Of ten million dollars
In silver"
GLOW much would o million dollars
of it weigh2'A
''Only twenty-scven 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-scven and half tons in round
numbers"
Glow docs it como that subsidiary
coin weighs less TO the dollar than the
silver dollars?"
AAkO LC DC
exactly equal to the dollar. That is to
say, two ffty-cent pieces or four quar-
tiers, originally weighed the same as one
silver dollar, but, away back in the fif-
tics, q 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
ard the subsidiary coin was not
changed"
"Then according to your figures it
- would require something more than a
horse and cart 10 transport the $4,000
900 of half dollars, quarters and dimes
to New York i'm case the New York
bankers como down with their S1O,OOO,-
900 Of bonds and take small change in
pay for them as they are reported like
ly to do?"
't"WclL slightly. The $40, 100000 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"
"And suppose it were i'm dollars?'
'Then tic $10,000.00O would weigh
800 tons instead Of 275, and would add
& two or three more cars to the train"
Suppose the $40, 600, GOO were in gold
instead Of silver, what would it weigh
thcn?'"
about $4,000 pounds, or in n general
way, it would make two carloads. tine
million dollars in gold coin weighs 8, CS6
pounds, while in silver dollars, as have
= said, it weighs thirty tons" 49,
% Suppose they were to take their ten
millions IN. nic1els, how much would it
weigh thcn2"
"Wcll, 1000 in nickels weighs 900
pounds. At that rate 81 900. 900 would
weigh 220, 900 pounds. SO that by brief
calculation you will find that to trans
port $4,000, 900 in nlclSels would take
train Of cars numbering considerably
over 100. or, in other words, train
about q half mile long"
"Apd to follow this interesting ques-
zion to its lnst step, what is the weight
Of $i,00Gor 81 ,000,0 900 in pennics?"
'EEhc weight of 81 900 in pennies is
sS5 pounds, and $l,0oO,OOO, of course,
would be GS5,000 pounds. To trans
port S10,000,0 900 In pennies would require
about $50 cars, or make train couple
Of miles long"
Jrust below the windows of the mint
&nrcau Is o large asphaltcd surface,
Booking like section of Pennsylvania
avenue. which has bobbcd up inthc area
inside of the Treasury building. 1t is tho
upper surface of the covering Of the
hugo vault built few years ago for the
deposit of silver dollars and other coin
scld by tho Treasury Department. This
vault, with tho others belonging to the
Tfensurcr's Office, has in it about $175,-
5000 IN silver and gold coin, the total
weight of which is calculated to be
hbetsE $500 tons, or sufficient to load q
aIEih OF cnr3 about two and u half miles
a. Hngth. TO carry out this interesting
STIMULATION ono stcp farthcr,it might
o. added hot the Director of the Mint IN
his rcccnt report calculates the amount
~ metallic money ip the United States
at tho close of tho last fiscal year
to have brcn $685., 600, 900 in frold and