The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1894-05-10
PROFITABLE CURRENCY.
2nSaugh It's xscss And pestsuc,ioss tho CAGE
ernynont Haa fsafna.l n1Iltf.....s. -

= ASs hogs and pestruction tho Goye
erninont Has Gained Mliiioas.
Ihe frRctional currency.of tbs United
states was the most profitable form of
money ever issued by tho fcl.ral an.
thoritles, All Of it that was lost or
DESTROYED, and this is estimated in
round fignrss'at S., ooo, 900. but is prob
abiy moro. is figured asa clear gain to
the governments
The total amount of the currency
emitted, including reissues, was s3ss..
7ac. 07a.5i. The total amount redeemed
aggregates 1855. AZ Csc. 50. This would
apparently leave outstanding !; i5,a. s,2 !. 4
44s.olsbut In the last a,sn,s:ti ael,s
statement the outstandin. amount IS
set down us Sc. 900, 50iao. G's::s a;iiount
Is merely az estimate Of. Ike a.,t,soli.
ties, but clearly Illustrates the fact
that,sS,27l,9SS.$ 50 has boon 9inaslse.,.. oil
to profit aa,l loss. @ g ~
The governlncnsstill ss..hdsrcady to
redeem ats fractional cnrrcn aesaud iias
no intSatSonof rcpudiaeiac any of Il,
although congress has authorized, the
marking .ofi OF IS, GOO. 900. Very little
OF tits nGsv tulre;; IL to The snb-trw,s-
uries, III consequence Of the rarity OF
certain issues and the fact that large
quantities remain in the hands Of col
Aectors, who would not part with tici.
specimens for ten times the face valve.
There was redeemed lastyear exactly
50. e5S wo,thof CHS profita bic currency.
and SO accurately are tho accounts Of
the treasury department kept that the
exact amount of each denomination de.
stroycd can be asce9tained. They were
as follows: Three cents, 50. 40; five
cents ss39 43; ten cents, &C.,. 05; Gftocn
cents, $50. IL; twenty-five cents, 81, o95. ~,
and fifty cents, sl.17S50. Fragments
of bills ere, of course, redeemed in pro-
portion which accounts for the appar-
ent impossibility OF redeeming total
amour rs Fiat are not multiples of the
face value of the notes.
Fractional currency was a feature OF
our money from August /, 1862, when
the first issue was authorized. until
February Is, 1876. whenthe lassor fifth
issue ceased. The emission of it there
fore coyered period of fourteen years,
and it is eighteen years since the last
notes we're issued. MN
Considering the length OF time since
the government discontinued the issue
of fractional currency the amount out
standing is enormous, greater by far
than any. other form of the public debt,
or for that matter NIL forms Of the pub
lie debt unredeemed from the founda-
ton of tho republic down to 1852, when
the legal tender notes were authorized.
1t is not likely now that more than
s5o,o00of fractional currency will ever
be presented for redemption SO that
the total profit to the government will
in the end amount to fully SIS, 900, 0OC
from It's issue.
a curious fact about the presentation
of fractional notes for redemption is
the large proportion that spurious bills
bear to the to tai. Last year when but
s2,05S worth was redeemed, counterfeit
fractional bills to the amount OF s22s
were turned into the treasury and de-
stroyed. The proportion is very nearly
8 per cent, which illustrates two
things-frst, how extensively the frac'
tionaI currency was initiated. and Sec
ondly, The stenncity with which persons
who had been taken i'll by the bad
money chung to the hope of eventually
obtaining IFS value N. y. Herald,