Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1891-12-17
FATE OF THE PENNIES.
Why 1t Is the Mint Is Coming
Gents by Millions.
Ninety-Four Millions of Them Mintcd
Last Year, and Stlll the Cry Is for
Morc-yyeight of Dollar Bill
-iIutilated Money.

-Mutllated Money.
What becomes of all the pennies?
1t seems to be with them very much
as it is with pins--nobody knows where
and how they disappear Yet they
vanish in some fashion. Last year the
Philadelphia mint coined "a, 900, 900 pen
MICS. 1t would take a good-sized build
ing to hold SO many, but they did not
begin to supply the pevcr-satished de-
mand for more. just now the cstab-
'lishment referred to is hard at work
manufacturing further supplies, and SO
it will continue.
Bronze cents are subject to more ac-
cidcnts than happen to any other
United States coins 1t is said that a
penny changes hands in trade ten times
for once that dime passes from one
pocket to another. Being of small
value, these little pieces arc not taken
much care of. There are thousand
ways in which they get out of circula-
tion, and thus the minting of them has
to be kept up continually. The metal
blanks from which they are made by
the simple process Of stamping are
turned out for Uncle Sam by contract
by factory in Connecticut at the rate
of a thousand for ono dollar. AS they
come from the machines, fresh and
new, they look like glittering gold.
One may get notion of the number
of pennies lost from the history of the
old half cents. OF these, 100000 were
issued q few years ago. Where are
they now? A few are in the cabinets
of coin collectors. None have been re-
turned to the mint for recoinage or are
held by the treasury. Nobody sees
them in circulation. All of them ex-
cept some hundreds saved out by curio
hunters have absolutely disappeared.
of the old copper pennies, 10000, 900
still remain unaccounted for, save that
once in long while one sees q speci-
men. There are moro than 5000, 900
bronze two-ccnt pieces somewhere out
of 4,500,O0O of them that the govern
ment issued OF nickel three-cent
pieces, nearly 1000, 900 arc yet outstand-
ing, although it is seldom that one of
them Is come across.
Inthe treasury here one day recently
the question came up as TO the
weight of dollar bill. Scales Of per-
feet accuracy were brought into requis-
ition, and the surprising discovery was
made that twenty-seven one-dollar
notes weighed exactly as much as a
twcnty-dollar gold piece. The latter
just balances $40 grains. However,
the bills weighed were perfectly crisp
and new. Trial made with soiled
notes, such as come in every day for
redemption, showed that t,Fessty-seven
of them weighed considerably more
than the twenty-dollar coin. Every
paper dollar on its way through the
world continually accumulates dirt. $50
that after a year of use it is perceptibly
heavier.
The actual weight Of paper money
which the treasury sends by express
every year to all parts of the country
is in the aggregate enormous Since
July it has dispatched $3s,ooo,O0o'
nearly all of it in small notes. to the
south and west for the purpose OF mov'
ing the crops. The banks lend this
this cash to the farmers on whatever
they grow, and thus the products OF
the field are harvested and shipped.
Speaking of the redemption of paper
money, q very novel and interesting ap'
plication was made the other day to
the division Of the treasury which has
this business in hand The story, as II
came out, was as follows:
An ingenious youth employed tc
sweep out New York bank devoted
attention for considerable period &c
gathering up the crumbs from the tills
in the shape of corners and other oits
of notes such as get torn off and fal
about in any place where dollars arc
counted. In the course Of time he got
together quantity Of scraps OF the
sort sufficient to fill pint measure
and he sent them on to the redemption
bureau at Washington in a box, will
the explanation that they had beer
eaten by mice.- He stated the amount
ut 5000, and asked for new bills IN ex
change. His little game was betrayed
on the face of it by the fact that tht
pieces forwarded represented, II any
thing, not less than $1,000. The usua
affidavit was demanded from him
swearing to b,iS loss; but he had no
thought oteolden suirement and iaelse' ss e.
the nerve5 5Eent iralt, luckily for him
self swallo
UndouyJ Gastor redemption division
does sod " cryswindled, though
not Otter slen experts EN-
Moved money sent il
are won \Hpzese 1t is marvel
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