The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-27
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and stamping. 1t may be said in expla-
nation Of the process of the term adjust
ing that every coin before it is shaped is
carefully weighed. If too heavy the edge
is delicately filed until the coin is of law
full weight; If too light the piece is sent
to be remelted. This process Of weighing
and adjusting is an employment to which
women with their delicacy of touch are
well suited. They are also in charge of
the stamping Incidentally it may be
said that most presses stamp from so to
100 coins every minute. In one short
hour $4,000 in $40 gold pieces can be
stamped around the edge and on both
sides
There is another part of the work which
comes under the charge of the women
employed at the mint They do the sew
ing. At first thought it seems a trife in
| congruous to associate sewing with money
minting, but all the bags used by the
mint are sewed in the building. The bags
are made of white duck and run up by
machine, being sewed twice for security.
The bag-making is no small thing when
you come to consider the number it takes
to pack up the newly-coined wealth of
| the country each year. The fve-cent
pieces are packed in $50 bags and the pen
MES in $40 bags; small silver in 81 900 and
| the gold in $1,000 pouches. Roughly
speaking last year fully 1000 bags were
made up for gold alone, 10000 for silver,
5000 for half dollars, besides many thous-
ands for the smaller coins.
Some idea of the part played by Phila-
delphia in the work OF national coinage is
obtained by CHANGING at the last report
that of the fiscal year ending June, 1892
OF the four minis established at philadel-
phia, San Francisco, Carson City and
New Orleans the coinage of each stood
| thus Philadelphia, SO GAS, 302 pieces San
Francisco, 8, 500, OBS pieces Carson City,
| 1616, 46S pieces: New Orleans, 10, lbs, 1916
| pieces; total, 1856, 1874 pieces. This
| shows that out of grand total of 49,
| $50, 124 pieces Philadelphia coined S9,948,-
| 302, or nearly eight-tenths of the whole.
! The number of pieces coined does not
| represent the amount of money, for while
| Philadelphia sent out the greatest num-
| Der of pieces, their value was only $l7,-
| go, 367 IL. The output of San Francisco,
| although numbering only S,863, OBS pieces,
| being gold coinage, was valued at S25, 1893,
| 9S3 35. Carson City's coinage, largely of
| gold and silver, was $3,2l6, $40, and New
Orleans S5,7ll, 1856. The gold regulates
| the coinage and its value.
The Philadelphia mint, besides being
the Oldest and busiest of Uncle Sans
money-making concerns, is also used, to
| large extent, by him as national store
| house. Under the present silver bullion
| bill of 1890 the greater bulk of the As, 000,-
| 600 ounces of bullion silver is stored away
| at the mint in this city. This is account
| able for the reason that most of it is pur-
| chased in New York, and the Philadel-
| phia mint lying closest at hand receives
| the greater part. There is now $3.50, 000,-
| 600 in silver bars stored away here
! Meanwhile, in connection with the
work of marking money and of sewing
bags, of assaying silver and assaying gold
some much-needed carpenter work is
| being done on the second floor. The
cabinet" is being fitted up in little
better shape to receive the mint's collec-
! tiOn of coins when returned from the
| fair. These are very large and valuable
| representing the coinage of every country
| that minis moneys. Every year a sum
of money is appropriated to purchase a
new set of the coins Of other countries, so
| that the numismatic treasures of the
mint are not only large and choice but
| very complete.
| Quite number of improvements are
| due to the enterprise of the present di-
rector, Colonel Bosbyshell During his
superintondence the third floor has been
fitted up to receive the laboratories assay
department, the machine shops and sew
ing rooms and apartments for the clerks
of the silver bar.
These improvements mitigated the
crowded condition Of the Philadelphia
mint for a time, but the civic welkin has
long been vocal with the crying demands
aud the discussions thereto for new
mint. -