The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1891-10-17
THE L. s. MINIS
Something About the Process of
Coming Money.


Coming Money.
II is quite natural that the United
States mint should have mnnt visitors
1t muse ono, the manufacture n
money, and even the hardened million
airr or the passiUniess cashier Of n saw
ings back Is bound TO be impressed by
thc fine sang-froid of the maidens wht
sit at the coinage machines, their lap:
heaping full of the precious blankets
and handle gold and silver as coolly
as though they were shelling peas
Yes, it is well worth while to come
to Philadelphia just to see them
You find the mint on Chestnut street
Just below Broad, a rather squat bill
striking structure of white marble,
with n Grecian facade.
The first building erected In the
United States for public use, under the
authority of the federal government.
was one for the United States mint. II
was n plain, brick building, on the east
side of Seventh street, near Arch, and
the cornerstone was laid by the great
David Rittenhcuse. director Of the
mint, on July 81, 1Tp2. The following
October operations of coming began.
On the 18th of May, is29, an act was
passed by congress locating the United
States mint on its present site. The
first coinage was OF silver half-dimes;
in October, 1872. The first metal pur-
chased for Coinage was six pounds of
old copper, at one shilling and three
pence per pound, which was coined
and delivered to the treasurer in 179'.
The first deposit of silver bullion
was made on July Is, 1874, by the
Bank of Maryland. 1t consisted of
coins of France" amounting to $780,
Ills. 73i!. The first return of gold coin.
age was on July 81. 1795. and consisted
of seven hundred and forty-four half
eagles.
Over forty thousand persons visit the
mint i'll the course of a year. Owing to
the immense amount of the precious met
ais which is always in course of tranSi-
ton and the watchful care necessary to
n correct transaction of business. the
public is necessarily excluded from
some of the departments. The system
Of surveillance adopted in the min: is
so precise and the weighing so accurate,
that the abstraction of the smallest
particle of metal would lead to almost
immediate detection.
All the gold and silver received for
coming is first weighed. The largest
weight used in the deposit-room is five
hundred ounces the smallest is the
thousandth part of an ounce. The
scales are wonderfully delicate, and
arc examined and adjusted on alternate
days. On the right of this room is one
of the twelve vaults in the building.
of solid masonry, several of them are
iron-lined. with double doors of the
same metal and most complicated and
burglar-proof locks.
1t is estimated that about fifteen
hundred million dollars worth of gold
has been received and weighed in this
room, probably nine-tcnthS of the
amount being from California since its
discovery there in the year 1913. Pre-
vious to that time the surplus of gold
came principally from Virginia, North
Carolina and Georgia. During the past
ten years considerable quantities have
been received from Nova Scotia, but
most of the gold that reaches the mint
at the present time m from CalifOr>
mia, Montana, Colorado. Idaho. Nevada,
Arizona, Oregon, Dakota, Virginia,
South Carolina and New Mexico. For
merly the silver used by the mint came
principally from Mexico and South
America, but since the discovery of the
immense veins of that metal in the ter
~ritories of the United States, the sup
ply is furnished from the great west.
The copper used comes principally from
the mines of Lake Superior, the finest
from Minnesota. The nickel is chiefly
from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.
After the metal had been carefully
weighed in the presence of the depos-
itor and the proper officials, it is locked
in iron boxes and taken to the melting
room, where it is opened by two men,
each provided with n key to n of the
separate locks. There are four fur
naces in this room. and the first process
of melting takes place here. The gold
and silver, being mixed with boraX and
other fluXing material, is placed in
pot, melted and put in iron molds,
and. when cooled. is again taken to the
dcposit-room in bars, where it is re-
weighed and a small piece cut from
each lot by the assayer. From.this the
fineness Of the whole is ~ascertained.
the value calculated, and the depositor
paid. The metal in its rough state is
then transferred to the refiner.
The two essential things regarding
every piece of metal offered in pay
mint of any dues are, first. the weight
quantity; next, the tineness or
of the same. The process of
weighing even the baser metals used
in coming must be conducted by the
use of accurate scales, with
notes of the results. In precious
metals-gold, silver and their high
grade alloys-a very small variation in
the iincness makes a great difference
in the value. Nothing is lore essen
tial than the accurate determination of
the weight of the sample and of the
metal obtained from it. 1t requires
keen sight and most delicate adjust
ment in the hand which manipulates
the lilliputian scales of an assaycr's
The smallest weight used in the
mint is found in the assay room: it is
thirteen-hundredth part of a grain,
and can scarcely be seen with the
eye, unless on a white ground.
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