Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-09-25
TWO INTERESTING EXHIBITS.
The Government Collections Of Coins,
Medals and Postage Stampa
a Press From the Philadelphia Mint
Money-Ths Philatelie Display.

Corrsspo.dsocs Of The Evening Star.
CHICAGO. September q. 1888.
L. 1t not . great oversight of somebody's
that among al the 200 or more buildings ON
the worlds fair grounds there Is not q SIN
gle spot, not . foot Of floor space. where
the citizen Of the capital Of this magnificent
country can 60 and feel at home?
The states have been most thoughtful for
their people, and have provided In their sew
eral buildings commodious and we'll
ntted reception rooms. with pianos;
rocking chairs. lounges. tables and
papers. In addition each state has its
viaicors' register, 30 that those who come
to the fair may know where to find those
who are here. The District OF Columbia has
washingtonian In a hundred succeeds in
finding his friends, unless he Is previously
provided with their address
In the sovs.nmsnt building are two In
matte One Is the collection Of United
States and foreign postage stamps. tuck
ed away In the south gallery. where
It Is seen only BY the faithful few who
search for IT, The other 10 the United
States mint exhibit In the Treasury De-
partment wing on the ground floor.
The Mat Exhibit.
The exhibit occupies a very small space.
but IL tells a great deal and tells 1t well.
You will be nrst aware OF the proximity of
the coin press. for you win hear its click.
click. a hundred times q minute from the
moment you enter the door Of the building.
This machine IL going all day, talking just
ns hard a. IL knows how and telling the
people how to make money. And It seems
- II that II just what everybody wants to
know. for tho crowds stand around the rail-
ing as thick as bees In . hive
This machine u one Of the twelve coming
NJ n
All these machines are alike. made after
the same pattern. and doing the same
work This machine has been stamping
coins for something Ike thirty years, and II
will probably be stamping coins for tbs
next thirty years TO come. The power to
run the machine Is furnished by the Expo
sition Company. the press stamping 100
coins q minute. with pressure OF l50
pounds to every coin.
The coin now being stamped by this press
Is souvenir coin. the United States gov
eminent souvenir coin. made Of bronze and
plated with gold These are sold for TWEEN
ty-five cents each, merely enough to cover
the cost Of production. Several thousand Of
these are sold every day to the interested
Dnlookers. who see money coined for the
hrst time In their lives All the machine
does Is to stamp the blanks which are fed
10 the machine by an operator.
Uncle Sam as q Numfsmatist.
There are very few people who know that
Uncle Sam Is q numismatist. and one OF
the drst water, too. He gathers coins and
medals as religiousiy as he gathers geologi-
cal specimens and Indian arrow heads.
Il was In the early part Of the year 1899
tancs Of q collection Of the coins Of all na-
tons As being historically valuable. be-
cause indicating tho condition of progress
In civilization, made appropriation for speci-
the mint. This appropriation has been con-
tinued up to the present time. and has re-
suited In the collection Of the finest set Of
coins and medals In the world
ton. and has been connected with the mint
In that capacity for the past twenty-five
years
There Is in the collection over /, 400 med
ais. congressional and miscellaneous. and
over 100 coins. not including those Of the
United States Mr.. Mcclure has arranged
q very neat little catalogue Of the collection.
which may be had on application free Of
charge. and which adds great deal to the
interest Of the collection
The coins are arranged chronologfcally In
glass covered frames. The first case con-
tains the coins OF the Greek republics, BIC.
different cities. The art Of engraving
among the Greeks reached its greatest de-
gree Of excellence In the fourth century
B. c.. As can be readily seen by the speci-
emblems of divinity were permitted on
coins. but when Alexander the Great came
forward. he, assuming that he was divine.
had his head engraved on the Greek mon
ey. and from that time on each successive
king did likewise.
Following these are the coins used In the
monarchies Of Greece, Eacedon. Persia,
Thrace. Syria, and Egypt. and among these
are many OF great interest. OF which 1 will
speak later.
The Roman money issued during the era
OF the republic Is unique. At this time
every prominent and powerful family coined
Ara
family crest. patron saint or other emblem
and the family name. Theirs are 120 of these
Interesting coins in the collection They are
classified alphabetically according to the
family name.
The oldest piece Of money in the coinage
Of Great Britain Is q gold coin Of the time
prior to the second Roman conquest he
fore the coming Of Christ. The Scotland
issued before its annexation to Great
Britain Among these are two Iieces
struck by Charles l to pay the Earl of
Stirring for his lands in America. which
were ceded to France BY Charles.
In the cases following are coins Of the
German and Italian states. Italy. Russia.
Poland. Finland and Modern Greece. to-
gether with the other European nations.
placed in the case Of selections"
Hammered silver Dollars.
The Mexican case contains some old Span
fattensd out of silver nuggets by hand. sill
yer dollars made by pouring the molten
metal into molds. a great contrast to the
coins Of Macmillan or the present issue
of the republic 1t was In Mexico that the
first mint was established in America In
1885.
The most interesting money In the South
American cases is the siege money of
Chile. or silver coins struck in the camps
to pay OF the soldiers with.
The oriental nations show many interest
ing coins From China Is shown what Is
said by Chinese scholars to be a coin of
Emperor Thun. 3. c. 235i. Among other
queer samples of Chinese money are pieces
Of bronze and copper. shaped like keys. dag
gers and baggage checks. pieces like the
letter " and V.
Japans coinage began with sheets OF gold
OF oval shape. ranging in size from eight
inches by three inches. valued at SIS. to
very tiny ones, valued at few cents. This
money was considered sacred and was not
allowed to go outside OF the country on
pain Of death to him who took II away. Cop
per was also cut in like shapes and used
as money. japan realized many years ago
the advantage of small coins, so she sent
q commission from her country to ours to
ind out how our money was made, with
the result that shortly after his return
Japan issued q gold and silver coinage like
our own She has the one, two, five, ten
and twenty dollar gold pieces. the silver